Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Crystal Methods
by NightSky489
Summary: Cortez is a helioptile that dreams of becoming a powerful explorer. He makes friends with a xatu, who has a dark, haunting past that torments him. Meanwhile, an evil threat arises that wants to pursue a world engulfed in darkness. Are these two problems connected? Who can stop the impending doom? Explicit language is used in the story. DISCONTINUED.
1. The Explorer That Could

**Hi there, I'm nightsky489. I'd like to thank you very much for stumbling upon my story and giving it a read. I was originally inspired to write this after the checking out Broken Ideals and Silver Resistance. I don't take myself to be on the same level as ShadowVulpi or Scytherider, but I certainly know my story brings a lot of uniqueness and creativity to the table. Please enjoy it. Leave reviews if you can, as I enjoy all feedback I get.**

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Welcome to the world of pokemon. This story takes place in the mystery dungeon world, where there is a split between normal, civilized pokemon, and feral, wild pokemon that lurk in the dangerous mystery dungeons. Look, now here comes a sprinting helioptile. It looks like he made some friends.

The helioptile was panting loudly as he was running through a low leveled mystery dungeon. Behind him though was a bit of some trouble, there were 3 rabid, feral bidoofs chasing him. This mystery dungeon is called Springside Woods; hardly a challenge, but could be if you were as low leveled as this helioptile.

The helioptile quickly turned around and flared its frills on the side of its head, letting out a thunder shock onto one of the bidoofs. It did no more than stun it for a bit.

"Not enough…", the helioptile said to himself while turning back around and sprinting some more.

"Gotta find the stairs… what is this floor 3?" He checked his magical map while running.

"Yes it's floor 3. Springside only has 5 floors. Where could the stairs –" He was suddenly encountered with a steaming tauros. The helioptile's eyes widened greatly at the site of it.

"Tauros?! Those have less than 1% of a chance of spawning here. Of course I get that…" As the bidoofs were still chasing him and now the tauros was charging as well, the helioptile had run out of options. He quickly looked back and forth at his two-front opponents. He started fumbling in his bag quickly. They were getting closer, closer. Right as they approached him, he slammed a seed on the ground that burst into a huge cloud of smoke. The feral pokemon were coughing but when it cleared, the helioptile was nowhere to be found.

There he is, panting, sprinting to the next room. And there it was: the stairs. "Oh sweet Arceus", he said while running up the glowing stairs. When he got to the top he was greeted by a sentret ready to kill him. The helioptile strained with all his might, let his frills flair, and let out a thunderbolt that knocked it backwards. It didn't faint, but when the sentret got back up, he was gone.

The helioptile didn't have a lot of attack strength but he made up for it with speed. He ran corner to corner, avoiding feral pokemon he saw down some halls. He pulled an apple out of his bag and took a couple large bites of it and tossed it behind him. He ate the apple not because he was hungry, but because he saw other explorers on TV do it and he wanted to be just like them. This helioptile was a new explorer. He wanted to form an exploration team however, and he was travelling around looking for some strong pokemon to join his cause.

Eventually he found floor 5 and cautiously moved around. There were a couple ferals here and there, but the helioptile did good to avoid them or run past them as they were unaware.

"Last floor, c'mon baby!" He muttered to himself looking around quickly. He looked down at his magical dungeon map that was literally writing the rooms and halls as he walked. Based on some good guessing he found the room with the last set of stairs. Hope exploded in his chest as he ran right up to the stairs.

And right before he touched the stairs to be teleported out, something grabbed his little stubby leg. Horrified, the helioptile turned around to see an enraged machop that had been waiting in that room. The machop threw the helioptile back down the hallway by its leg, and the helioptile did a couple rolls when hitting the ground.

"No! So close!" he said weakly. The machop started walking towards him. The helioptile stood up and tried hard to flair his frills. A couple sparks danced around but it was no good. He was all out of juice. He started breathing hard trying to think of what he could possibly do. The helioptile checked his bag quickly as the machop continued to walk towards him. He was out, all he had was a couple of coins, an apple, and plain seed he held on to for some reason. The machop grew closer and closer, and the helioptile made a crawling sprint around the side of it. Right as he sprinted by, the machop caught his bag, restricting him from going any further. He quickly unclipped his bag and finally ran up the stairs, being teleported out.

The helioptile was launched out of a forest hole, and landed on some grass outside the forest. He had finally gotten out. That definitely wasn't something that he wanted to do again. He laid on the ground, breathing hard. As he looked up at the sky, a couple clouds rolled by. There was a tree in his view on the side and a taillow could be seen flying by. He held his head up and looked off into the distance. There he could see a town up ahead with a few white houses dotting the area. It was Heroca town. He read about it on a giant world map, that lo and behold, he had lost in the dungeon along with the bag his father gave him.

He got up and walked down a path towards the town. When he got to the center, he wasn't very impressed at the size of the place. A few pokemon walked down the street, but no one paid him any mind. Out of the whole small town, the only building he recognized was the kecleon shop. He swiftly entered it, seeing the expected kecleon behind the desk.

"Welcome to the kecleon shop, how may I help you?" the kecleon said with a smile on his face. All the kecleon shops were linked, where ever they were. Anyone could theoretically run a shop, but it was rare to see anyone other than the kecleon. They had been doing it for centuries, an art they had mastered. There wasn't any item a kecleon couldn't get its hands on, for the right price. Whether if it was importing the item from another store instantaneously, or ordering some high levelled exploration teams to look for it. With the right price, anything was possible.

"Hi, I'm a new explorer, my name is Cortez. I'm also a helioptile. I was wondering if anyone in this town wanted to join me in forming an exploration team."

The kecleon started unpacking fresh inventory from boxes. "Explorer, are ya? Then where's your bag?" The kecleon was looking down at Cortez and noticed he was lacking the signature travel bag that _all_ explorers carried.

"Oh… well…" Cortez looked around his body stupidly like there might've been a chance the bag was still there. "Well let's just say I'm not a very good explorer. I kinda lost it in Springside Woods." Cortez announced meekly.

"You lost it in Springside?" The kecleon gave out a startling cackle. "Son you do need help. I seriously doubt you'll find anyone here willing to help you. I can sell you a new travel bag if you want, I have a couple."

Cortez looked down at the ground. It was a look of 'I lost my money in the dungeon and now there's no hope for me'. The kecleon studied him for a bit.

"Well", he finally said, "Try going around and asking. You never know. I doubt anyone in this lowly place would want to do anything, but I've been surprised before." The kecleon then turned his head and started moving items around behind his desk. It was a sign that he was done talking. Cortez walked out of the store, and back out onto the main street of the city. He had no money, no items, no place to stay.

Cortez grew up as an only child. He had two heliolisks as parents, both were not too fond of exploration. It just so happened that from early on their child wanted to be an explorer. He spent lots of time watching TV and watching famous, powerful exploration teams find great treasures that sold quite a bit on the kecleon market. High levelled mystery dungeons always housed some of the rarest items in the pokemon universe. Sure, anyone could walk into a lower levelled mystery dungeon and pick up and apple, maybe 2, hell, maybe even an oran berry and sell it for a few coins on the market. But the really rare stuff is what Cortez was after, and to get his hands on that stuff, he was willing to form an exploration group and go on adventures.

Cortez spent the next few hours standing around asking passing pokemon if they wanted to join an exploration team or if they knew anyone that wanted to. All the pokemon though turned him down or simply didn't even try talking to him. Cortez started to really get discouraged. He remembered his dad's words, "Ok son, if that's what you want to do, I won't stop you. I did some exploring in my heyday and I'd like you to take my old bag with you. But it's hard to find other people who want to do it. It's a really risky job that could cost you your life." Cortez felt terrible he lost that bag due to being so weak.

He spent a while in his hometown trying to find some pokemon that wanted to join him, but none did, so he plowed through a dungeon to the next town, and he was getting no dice. After a while he walked around the small town some more before falling face down on the ground. He laid there for a while before he felt a paw press up against him.

"Hey buddy what the heck are you doing on the ground?"

Cortez looked up and saw a houndour staring at him. He quickly got up as he realized how weird it must've looked being on the ground.

"Sorry. I've just been discouraged for a while. See, I'm a new explorer. My name is Cortez. I'm a helioptile and I'm looking for some pokemon to join an exploration group with me."

"If you're an explorer then where's your bag?", the houndour asked. Cortez started shaking his head rapidly.

"I LOST IT OKAY?! I'm not very good, I'm sorry!" he shouted loudly. It let a bunch of anger out. Cortez felt worthless and felt like giving up on being an explorer.

"Good god buddy, calm down! It was just a question! I see you're a bit frustrated. Let us consult my friend and see if I can get you some good advice. Follow me." The houndour turned around and started walking away, with Cortez slouching behind him.

"Hey, I'm sorry for being rude. I just came from Spira Town and had to go through Springside Woods to get here, and it was really dangerous and I lost my bag back there. And what's worse is it was my dad's, he gave it to me…" The houndour interrupted Cortez and turned around.

"You're pops gave it to you and now it's gone? That sucks man, let's go get it."

Cortez perked up. "Oh no, I can't go back in there, we might both die and a really strong machop has it."

"Hey, I'm really strong! I could get it myself! Springside Woods? More like… Spring… Springstupidside Woods! That place is for chumps. And you know what, I'll get my bud to help me and we will all get it back!" The houndour exclaimed.

Cortez doubted this houndour a lot, but maybe if his friend including himself went back in to get his bag, he could convince the two of them to join him and go on more adventures.

"Hey, I never got your name." Cortez said back as they both started walking again.

"Luke, and don't forget it. I'm gonna find that bastard machop and roast him until his skin peels off with flamethrower!"

Up ahead was a teepee on the outskirts of the town. It was old and beat up, and ready to fall apart.

"My friend's name is Omex. He's pretty strong when he wants to be, sometimes he just needs some motivation." Luke cautiously approached the teepee. It was the first time he saw Luke not acting cocky.

"Omex?... Ya there?..." Luke approached the entrance of the teepee. Cortez was closely following behind. Luke noticed and quickly turned around.

"Hey, back off! Just stay there. Omex might be a bit loopy right now." Luke said quietly yet fiercely to Cortez. He took a step back and watched Luke slowly enter.

"Omex?... Oh Omey. You awake?... Ouch!" Cortez heard Luke accidently kick a glass bottle. Cortez couldn't help his curiosity. He slowly walked into the teepee, and the place was trashed. There were alcohol bottles all over the floor, couch was dump, TV on static. He turned left where he saw Luke looking over a sprawled out xatu. The xatu was laying flat on the ground with a bottle of scotch under his wing.

"HEY OMEX WAKE THE HELL UP!" Luke then kicked the xatu really hard, turning him over. Cortez was completely speechless. There in front of him, a xatu, one of the most well respected and rarest species, was passed out on the ground. And getting kicked. The xatu let out a moan.

"Hey asshole! Leave me alone." The xatu said slurringly.

"Omey it's me Luke! Can you wake up?!" The xatu shook a bit.

"Oh… Luke…. Bring me a… a, uh…" Nothing. The xatu had passed out again and started snoring. Luke look disappointed. His head turned to Cortez, who was completely speechless.

"Hey Cortez, we don't need him. Let's go get your bag back ourselves. He's just a big DRUNK!" He yelled while facing Omex for that last word.

Cortez left his state of shock and tried talking. "That's – I… - Isn't that a… a XATU?!"

Luke casually looked back around. "Yeah it is. He's not a very good one, is he?"

"He's a xatu! There's only a few of those in the world! I've read about them, they're supposed to look at the sun all day and know the future and stuff!" Cortez rushed all his words out in a state of shock.

"Oh yeah, well not this one. He has a problem. He isn't a normal xatu, he can't look into the future. He's… disabled I guess. Sucks for him. He just spends all day watching TV and drinking. I suppose he could be doing something better with his life", Luke said while exiting the old teepee. They were back outside.

"He can't look into the future?! Holy smokes. So now he's like a normal pokemon with no powers?" Cortez said, pressing Luke for more answers.

"Oh his psychic power is still working, trust me. I've been on the receiving side of his drunk tantrums, it isn't pretty. C'mon let's go get your bag. Enough talk", Luke said jogging back toward Springside.

"Hey wait up!" Cortez started running after him. Soon they were back in front of the exit that Cortez came out of, except now it was represented as an entrance.

"Okay so what floor?" Luke asked, starting to get in focus.

"It was 5, the last one from Spira".

"…Wait, so that's the first floor going this way, because this dungeon only has 5 floors, right?"

"Yeah, so let's just go in, grab the bag, and go out." Dungeons worked only one way, so if you climb up a mystery dungeon from floors 1 to 5, you'd go back down it floor 5 to 1, so you'd start on 5 and work down. The helioptile and houndour entered the dungeon cautiously. They were sucked into the void and teleported at floor 5, right behind the stairs that went out. Mystery dungeons are weird, they follow the strict rule of floor amounts, but each time you reentered a floor, it generated in a new, random way. Even though Cortez had been through the floors just hours ago, it was reassembled in a new way.

"Great, we don't even have a map to guide us around", Luke said.

"It was in my bag, if we find my bag, we'll be alright." Cortez reassured. Suddenly in the distance, a bidoof's growl was heard. It made Cortez's skin crawl and Luke turned around at lightning speed.

"Oh god! It's so angry! What's wrong with it?! And why can't pokemon in these dungeons talk?! Are they stupid?!" Cortez started to sense fear in Luke's voice. And after how brave he sounded outside the dungeon.

"They're feral, Luke. As in, their brain only processes attacking anyone who isn't". Cortez said.

"Oh hell no, I didn't sign up for this!" Luke exclaimed.

"You kind of DID!" The bidoof was now sprinting towards them with only killing in its eye, nothing else.

"Oh Arceus, it's coming after us! What did I do it?" Luke was freaking out.

"Have you ever been in a mystery dungeon?!" Cortez demanded.

"NO, okay?! I thought the pokemon here were reasonable!" The bidoof was less than 30 feet away and Luke started for the way back out. Cortez braced himself and when it was close enough, he flared his frills and shot a bolt of thunder at bidoof, knocking it backwards, stunned.

"Oh my god…" Luke turned back around, studying the fried bidoof.

"Luke you can breathe fire right? You're a houndour, these weak pokemon don't stand a chance against it! Just use some moves at them!" Luke kept staring at the fainted bidoof, like he was starting to realize something.

Suddenly as he was staring a sentret was quickly approaching with the same mindless look the bidoof had.

"St-stay back…" Luke warned. The sentret didn't say a word, it kept running, showing its teeth, and growling.

"Luke, get it with a flamethrower! C'mon do something!" Cortez cheered from behind. Yet Luke wasn't too confident.

"I said stay back! Don't you hear me?!" Luke kept giving the feral pokemon chances, like it would consider what he was saying. Soon it was too late, the pokemon had ran right up to Luke. In fear, Luke let out a massive roar of fire, roasting the sentret on the spot. Luke backed away when he was done, and the charred sentret was dead.

"Wow Luke, that was _incredible_! I didn't know you were so powerful!" Cortez started exclaiming with a huge smile on his face. Luke however, was speechless, and looking horrified.

"I… I killed a pokemon. I'm a murderer!"

"No Luke, that's what you're supposed to do. These aren't pokemon, they're ferals. They want us dead, and it's necessary to kill some when you want to travel outside your town." Cortez knew that this truly was Luke's first time in a dungeon.

"I've never been away from my town ever before…" He was still staring at the dead pokemon on the ground.

"You're doing good Luke. Let's get my bag back. That machop is around here somewhere."

Luke turned around horrified. "Oh shit. A machop? Those guys are really strong! And he's FERAL isn't he?!"

Cortez rolled his eyes. "Yes, Luke they're _all_ feral. C'mon." Cortez led the way with Luke shaking behind him.

"What if we die?!" Luke exclaimed. "Not with that flamethrower of yours, just breathe fire on anyone and we're fine!" Cortez said back.

"I don't think I could handle killing more pokemon!"

"You're _FINE_ Luke!" Said an annoyed Cortez. After running up and down the halls of the dungeon, Cortez had Luke kill a few more pokemon. Luke's flamethrower was outrageous, and Cortez didn't have to waste so much energy when Luke was with him. Walking through the dungeon was a cinch, until the finally found the machop.

"Good lord, there it is!" Cortez said quietly. It was on the other side of the hall with the damn bag strapped around itself.

"It's wearing my bag! MY BAG!" Cortez said a little too loudly. The machop was startled and saw them both, and started running towards them.

"No! It's really strong isn't it?" Luke started asking.

"Not that bad. Just give it the fire breath and I will follow up with a thunderbolt. Can you manage that?"

"I don't know!" The machop was now running at full speed with a hungry look on its face.

"It looks so menacing!" Luke was scared spineless. He was so hung up on the fact that the feral pokemon couldn't ration. Right as it ran up, Luke let out a huge flamethrower, and after that very moment, Cortez followed up with a thunderbolt. They both waited for the smoke to clear, but before it did, the machop let out one powerful mach punch that sent Luke flying. Luke wailed out in pain and fear as he landed on the ground.

"Oh shit", Cortez muttered to himself. The machop was charred heavily, but had this maddening look in his face with bloodshot eyes. It swung at Cortez but he ducked, and dodged another attack. Cortez landed a scratch but right after the machop got a powerful punch in at Cortez's head. Cortez fell over dazed, and saw a blurry foot ready to squash him.

Then suddenly he made out Luke tackling it head on from above, and while on top of the machop, Luke let out more bellowing flames upon its face. Cortez sat up and saw the machop struggling, trying to grab Luke from the sides, but he wouldn't let up with the flames. The machop grew weaker and weaker, and when Luke finally stopped breath fire to wheeze for his breath, the machop was dead. Luke fell over to continue to catch his breath, and Cortez stumbled over to the dead machop. The machop was completely charred in the face, and the bag was damaged as well, but still in decent condition. He took it off of the dead pokemon and put it back around his shoulder. It was a little more worn than he remembered it, the machop hadn't taken good care of it. But inside was his map still in the side pocket, but everything else in the main part of the bag was gone.

"I'm… ok", Luke said, still catching his breath. Cortez stared down at his bag with a smile on his face. "I did it. I got it back."

"WE…"

"Yeah, we did. Well I guess it was mostly you, thanks. Now, _let's get out of here!_ " Cortez said hastily. He (or Luke) didn't want to see another feral pokemon, so they back tracked and found the exit.

As they walked out, Cortez could tell Luke was a new pokemon. He looked braver and bolder. The sun was setting as they approached the familiar town.

"All in all… it was really easy! Those mystery dungeons are for chumps!" Luke said cockily.

"Are you _kidding me?_ You freaked out way more than I did!"

"Nuh-UH!" The sun continued to set and Cortez remembered how he didn't have a place to stay.

"Hey, where is your house? Would you mind if I stayed there a bit? I have no place to go." The two of them had walked close to the town, and were starting to pass the xatu's teepee.

"I have a great idea. Let's stay with Omex for the night. Won't that be fun?!" Luke offered.

Cortez grew a cautious look. "I don't think that's a good idea, do you?"

"It's a GREAT idea! Let's go!" Luke started sprinting towards the teepee. Hesitantly, Cortez followed him. They ran right up to the tent. And once again, Luke got cautious.

"Omex? Are you awake?"

"Who is it?!" the voice was pale and flat.

"It's Luke and I brought a friend!" Suddenly the teepee flap flipped itself open. Inside was a finally conscious xatu with its massively long wing extended.

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 **If you're reading this, that means you may be slightly/really fascinated in my story. I'd like to take a moment to thank you for spending your much valued time reading my book.**

Check out my forum called Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Writers United. We are a community of pokemon writers that chat and give advice. I post all my updates there, and anyone is welcome to join. There are a lot of talented PMD writers there who create topics on making your pokemon mystery dungeon writing skills better. It will definitely benefit you to check it out. Take some advice, and maybe leave some advice.

fanfiction forum/PMDWritersUnited/199441/


	2. Revelation

The xatu that Cortez first saw passed out was now up and fully functional, watching some TV.

"Oh, it's you Luke. Come in I guess. Who's this?" Omex said, facing Cortez. The two pokemon entered Omex's tent. The xatu was sitting on his horrifically dirty couch and had some TV on. Off to the side was a half empty bottle of beer.

"Hey, you're in the way of the TV! Move!" Omex signaled for the two move out of the way with his wing. As he did so, Cortez felt a slight force pushing him in the way Omex's wing moved.

"You said you wouldn't use psychic powers on me anymore!" Luke barked.

"I didn't touch you with anything!" The xatu said back, defensively.

"Oh yes you did, I felt it slightly" Luke yelled.

Omex put his wings over his face. "Look Luke, I'm really hammered right now, can we not do this?" Cortez was the first to move out of the way.

"Thank you! He gets it!" Omex said.

"Listen Omes", Luke had quite a few nicknames for Omex. "This here is Cortez. He's a helioptile. And he's an explorer, but he's not very good." Luke quickly lunged his body onto Omex's dirty couch, sending crumbs, fluff, and some beer cans in the air. Omex gave Luke an annoyed look before shifting his attention towards Cortez.

"Oh, an explorer eh?" Omex started. He opened his wing towards his beer bottle, and the bottle flew into his palm. He took a swig. "How long have you been exploring, Cortez?" Omex said really sarcastically.

Cortez was completely awed at the xatu's psychic power. He totally broke all the laws of physics, and he acted like it was no big deal to him. Psychic pokemon in general were rare.

"Well, uh… I'm actually new at. Luke and I went into a dungeon to get my bag and that was the second time I'd been in one." Cortez admitted. The TV screen reflected in Omex's mysterious, narrow eyes.

"A newbie, huh. Well good luck to you. Hope you find what you are looking for." Omex's attention turned towards the TV again. It was silent for a few seconds and Cortez noticed that Omex started to trail off.

"…Oh yeah, hey Omex, Cortez wants to stay the night here!" Luke said enthusiastically.

Omex blinked hard, coming back to realization. "Oh does he? And I suppose you do as well!" He said kind of angrily.

"That'd be awesome Omex!" Luke quickly jumped on top of Omex playfully, but before he landed on him, Omex yelled "BACK OFF!" and used his psychic power to launch Luke across the room. Judging by how Omex and Luke treated each other, Cortez thought they might be a family of some sort.

"Okay Mr. Cortez, one night. You can crash in my bedroom, I usually just sleep on the couch." Omex said turning towards Cortez.

"Thank you Omex. I really do appreciate it."

"Epic. Now entertain Luke somehow and get him off my ass." Cortez felt something hit his back and travel over his head. A TV remote that hit him floated over to Omex's wing. He changed the channel.

Luke followed Cortez into Omex's bedroom. It was shockingly not that dirty.

"Omex never sleeps in his bedroom. He's passed out so many times on his couch he's gotten used to sleeping there", Luke jokingly said. The teepee was pretty peaceful. It was large, and divided into 4 sections with large, tall cloth, in the shape of an X. The entrance was his living room, one side was his bedroom, another side was his kitchen and the far back was the restroom and storage.

"So how'd you meet Omex, or what's your relationship to him?" Cortez asked while feeling out Omex's hardly ever used bed.

"I'm just a really annoying neighbor I guess… were friends sometimes", Luke said with a puzzled look. That might've been the first time he had to really analyze that topic. "His house is much nicer than mine, so I like staying here a lot", he added. That was quite a statement, considering how beat up the xatu's teepee was. Cortez now sat fully on the bed. It was layered with nice leathers and big skins, something you'd see out of a tourist cabin.

"What's his story? Do you know what happened to him?" Cortez continued to press for answers.

"He doesn't talk about it much. He sometimes goes on rants on how worthless he is because he can't see the future. He's tried standing outside looking at the sun, but it always gets him upset, he then drinks a ton and passes out!"

Suddenly the door flap flew open instantly and a drunk xatu stumbled in.

"Oh… so now you're talking about me behind my back!" Omex exclaimed.

"He just wanted to know more about you!" Luke said, scared.

"Ya wanna know more about me?!" Omex stared at Luke who was sitting on the bed. "Off the bed, dog!" Suddenly Omex used his psychic powers to throw him off the bed and on the floor. Omex took his place on his bed. "Listen up Carl. I can't see shit. That future shit, it's a no go for me. I have no purpose in life because I can't do the basic shit that every other Arceus damned xatu can do! And because of that I'm just a big walking green bird that occasionally flings things without touching them!" Omex had one eye opened more than the other.

"And uh… you know… what the hell is…" Omex kinda looked around the room, dazed. Cortez was really scared that Omex could easily fling him across the room with just a thought and he was on edge. However he calmed down once Omex fell over and passed out on his bed.

"Is he asleep?" Luke said from under the bed.

"I think so now", Cortez said while examining Omex's limp body while he let out a huge snore. Luke's head popped up.

"Let's just leave him there. He'll be fine in the morning", Luke said quietly. Cortez was really stunned at how such a glorious xatu could turn into such a depressed monster. He started to wonder if Luke had taken quite a bit of abuse from him.

Luke and Cortez exited the bedroom and decided it was best if they slept where Omex was going to originally sleep – the rotten couch. Luke didn't have a problem cuddling up on the couch, but Cortez looked at it nauseously. He decided the floor would be his best bet.

"Good night, Luke. Thanks for helping me out", Cortez said in the dark.

"No prob Corty. Adventures are actually pretty fun", Luke said back. Cortez thought it was funny that he already got a nickname from Luke. He thought that was reserved just for Omex but he guessed he did that for everyone.

Cortez laid on the floor thinking of what to do. His main goal was to form an exploration group, but maybe that could wait a bit. He wanted to ask Luke to join, but was really unsure of Omex. He seemed to have his own issues.

Despite sleeping on an uncomfortable floor, Cortez got himself to fall asleep. All was silent in the teepee for the time being.

Cortez's eyes immediately opened with a sharp pain going down his back. Dawn's light shone in through the entrance of the teepee. He turned over, light headed, and saw Luke sprawled out across the couch. Cortez slowly sat up with his back cracking. After collecting himself for a few seconds, he got up and saw Omex was no longer on the bed. Confused as to what to do, he eyed the rooms a bit and walked outside. There was fresh dew on the grass, and a cold wind blew by. When Cortez's eyes finally adjusted to the light, he saw a xatu sitting on a rock in the distance by himself.

Cortez stumbled out to see what Omex was up to. When he got up close he could see that Omex was slouched over doing absolutely nothing. Cortez approached him cautiously.

"Hey Omex. What's going on?" Omex didn't move. He didn't say anything. He just stared at the ground. After a few seconds he talked.

"What do you want?" Omex asked, in a low monotone voice. He was obviously depressed. Cortez saw a small spot on the rock that wasn't being sat on so he sat by him.

"Nothing. Are you okay?" Cortez stared into Omex's mystic eyes that were staring at the ground. A faint wind blew by, rustling the surrounding grass some. Omex slowly looked up at Cortez.

"Sometimes I really don't know." A moment of silence. "What's your name again? It starts with a K or C I think. I was too fucking drunk to remember who I was last night."

"It's Cortez".

Omex showed a faint grin and chuckled. "After the famous conquistador… you're an explorer, right?"

"Not a very good one".

"Well we all have to start somewhere". There was another moment of silence.

Omex's head rose back up to look at Cortez. "I didn't hurt anyone last night, did I?"

Cortez suddenly had a flashback of Omex using psychic powers to shove Luke off the bed.

"…I don't think so."

"Good." Omex turned back at the ground. "I couldn't never forgive myself if I hurt Luke again. He's so good to me when no one else is. I've hurt him badly before, and I have no one to blame but myself for that. We all have our problems in life, and I don't really choose the best coping options".

Cortez wanted to change the subject. "I took Luke on his very first mystery dungeon yesterday."

"I think you told me that. Yeah, that's good. He's never been outside this town. Hell, a lot of people haven't been outside this town. I know I haven't in years."

"Would you ever want to leave again?"

Omex turned back to Cortez. "Why? There's nothing out there for me. Do you know what my people do? We are studiers. We see the future and the past. It's our job to know this knowledge all over the world. And I think I told you last night, I'm not able to see the future. When you're a young natu, you get your future sight abilities. Then you go on to become a xatu and make something of yourself. I was laughed at and ridiculed when I wasn't able to perform simple future knowledge tests. Like which door will the duck be behind in one minute. Or where is the ball going to land when it's thrown. They said I could be a late bloomer, but everyone lost hope years later when I became a xatu." Omex stood up and looked over the horizon. "And I think I lost hope in myself."

Omex then turned and started walking away. Cortez just sat there looking at the ground. He was speechless. He then quickly turned around at Omex who was walking towards the teepee.

"Do you want to join with me in an exploration group?" He shouted at him. It was blunt, but thought it was the best time to ask him.

Omex turned his head slightly. "Sorry buddy, I'll have to pass. It's a nice thought, though." He proceeded to walk towards the tent.

Cortez followed shortly and when he got back to the tent Luke was starting to wake up. "Hey, where did you go?" Luke asked sleepily.

"Just went for a walk. Nothing big."

"Oh okay. So what are you going to do today? Are you leaving soon?" Luke asked while stretching his body out.

"Yes, I think I am", Cortez said with his head down.

Omex suddenly appeared from his storage room. "I'm going out to buy more booze. Please don't burn the place down while I'm gone." He had a couple empty burlap sacks and some coins in his hand.

"Are you sure you should buy that?" Cortez asked.

"The last thing I need is a lecture Cortez. I don't even know you." With that Omex walked out the door and towards the town.

Cortez looked over at Luke. He looked sad with his head down. "I've been wanting Omex to stop drinking for a long time now. But I could never get him to do it. His drinking has caused everyone in the town to hate him, and I'm the only one that's stuck up for him. And now you're leaving. I thought we were just starting to become friends."

"Well, I'm still looking to form an exploration group. I guess I was wondering, did you want to join?" Cortez asked.

Luke kind of trailed off a bit, thinking. "I don't think so. We had fun yesterday, but I couldn't leave Omex. I think he needs me more than he admits."

"If he went, would you go?" Cortez asked.

"Please… like he'd go." Luke chuckled a bit, then looked up, and got slightly excited. "Why? Did he say yes?"

"No."

Luke's excitement disappeared quickly. "Figures. All he wants to do is drink all day and literally nothing else. You know, I…" Luke stopped talking for a second. His eyes wondered away from Cortez. "You know what. Follow me!" Luke suddenly had, an angry, determined look on his face. He turned and walked to the kitchen, with Cortez behind him, wondering what he was doing.

Luke proceeded to open the fridge.

"What are you doing?" Cortez demanded.

"Something I should've done a long time ago!" Luke picked up a bottle of alcohol and slammed it on the ground, with it shattering all over the floor.

Cortez looked up in awe, and absolute horror. "Oh no".

"Oh YES! You find every container of drink and smash it, I'm serious!"

"No I don't think I can do that. He's gonna _kill you_!" Cortez was very concerned.

"He's not going to do SHIT! He promised me a while back he wouldn't hurt me again. And I'm gonna hold him to that!" With that Luke smashed another container. "You gotta help me, Corty. You know he can't live like this forever."

Cortez looked down, and saw a bottle. He cautiously picked it up, and looked at the golden liquid dance in the glass. Suddenly, almost like he couldn't control himself, he slammed the bottle down, exploding it in every direction.

"Yes! That's what I'm talking about! Come on, sucka, let's GET IT ON!" Luke said.

Cortez and Luke started smashing every single bottle they could find, everywhere. Whether it was full or not, it got smashed. The two were walking around in puddles of alcohol everywhere, laughing and having the time of their lives while doing so.

Eventually, every single bottle they could find was destroyed. All the alcohol Omex had stored had been destroyed. It was all over the floor, and the place grew a funny smell.

"What's going to happen to us?" Cortez said regrettably.

"He'll get over it. He's coming back with more, isn't he? It's just a sign that we hate what he does." Suddenly Luke looked like he was going to sneeze.

"Do you smell that… Ah… Ah… Ah…" Luke was preparing for a sneeze. Suddenly, Cortez's eyes widened and a complete look of dread covered his face.

"NO!" Cortez screamed.

"AH-CHOOO!" When Luke sneezed a flare of fire shot out his nose and instantly made contact with the alcohol all over the floor. The place instantly erupted in flames.

"OH MY GOD!" Cortez yelled. He was watching as the fire on the floor made its way up the tent walls and everywhere else. The heat was intense, and despite having thoughts of trying to put it out himself, just made a run for it outside. Luke followed outside and started freaking out.

"Water pokemon! We need water pokemon! HELP!" Luke was yelling in every direction possible. Within seconds the whole teepee was engulfed in flames. They watched as it burned beautifully.

The teepee was isolated away from the town. No one came to help. Cortez was unsure anyone saw or cared.

As Omex started walking back from town with his newly acquired drinks, he could see in the distance a huge fire where his teepee was supposed to be.

"No, impossible", he said to himself with a look of dread.

Back at the teepee, Luke was stomping on the side of the tent, trying to put out the fire, as if that would've helped. Cortez just stood staring in horror.

"HELP ME! Do something!" Luke yelled. Cortez couldn't move. He couldn't believe what he was looking at.

Suddenly Omex could be seen sprinting up to the teepee. "WHAT HAPPENED?!" He yelled.

Luke and Cortez looked at him, and tried to talk, but nothing came out. Omex stared at them wide eyed with his mouth hanging open, but he got no reply from any of them. Omex turned towards his beloved home as he saw it in flames.

"No… no…" Omex said quietly to himself. He got down on his knees and stared at the destruction he was witnessing. He almost couldn't believe it. Was this the future he was witnessing? No, he reassured himself. He can't see the future. This was happening right in front of his eyes.

Omex continued to stare at the teepee on his knees with a blank stare of horror. Slowly Luke and Cortez were backing away, on opposite sides of Omex. They both had horror on their faces too.

Within the next minute, several pokemon, including water pokemon, arrived on the site. A few pelippers from the air started to blast the teepee with water. An azumarrill and marshtomp chimed in with waves of water. Within literal seconds, the fire was gone, replacing it with a drenched pile of ash.

Marshtomp looked to be the fire marshal, and once they were sure the fire was completely out, he approached the 3 of them and asked a low, forceful voice "What happened here?"

Omex stood back up and faced Cortez and Luke.

"W-well, uh…" Luke was stammering his words.

"We… smashed a bunch of alcohol… and, he", pointing at Luke, "accidentally sneezed and some flames came out and… and then it was all in flames. All of it…" Cortez explained.

The marshtomp looked down at the 3 of them. "You guys, are very lucky this happened far away from the town. Was anyone else in the structure when it went ablaze?!"

"No, it was just us, we got out. We're fine", Luke said.

"Okay, that's the important part", the marshtomp faced the xatu. "I'm sorry about this Omex. But when you have so much alcohol in your house, it presents a major threat. You're lucky no one got hurt, or charges could've been pressed."

"I understand", Omex said with his head down.

"Okay then. Our paperwork is finished, we will be leaving now". With that, the whole squad of fire fighters left, leaving just Omex, Cortez, and Luke with a huge pile of drenched ash.

The 3 stood there in silence for what seemed like more than a few moments. Luke then stepped up and started talking.

"Listen Omex. I'm sorry. I didn't mean for any of this to happen. I just – "

"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?! WHAT?! You want me to stop drinking so you BURN MY FUCKING HOUSE DOWN?!"

"It wasn't like that!"

"WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING?! What do I do to DESERVE THIS SHIT?!" Omex turned around with his long wings extended into the air. "Lord Arceus, first you STRIP ME FROM WHAT MAKES ME A XATU, and then you BURN MY HOUSE TO THE GROUND! What do I have left?! Why do I deserve this?! What did I do?"

Luke's heart started thumping really fast. He broke out in a sweat and got extremely nervous. "Y-you don't do shit Omex! You lay around the house yelling 'Woe was me! I can't see the future!' and that somehow gives you the right to abuse everyone you love including your own family and friends! I was doing what needed to be done! You're a fucking drunk disgrace who can't even compose yourself! You've been an asshole to everyone your whole life and that's why everyone hates you except for me!"

"AAAEEEUUUGGGHHH!" Omex turned around with his wings extended and his eyes flaring bright purple.

"Duck!" Luke yelled as Cortez and Luke jumped to opposite sides. Suddenly the huge pile of ash that use to be the teepee rose from the ground and started circling like a tornado. Huge chunks of black rubble swirled around massively in the air. The wind was picking up and was getting stronger, and Omex continued to scream at the top of his lungs. Right when it seemed like Omex's tantrum could turn into an all-out tornado, he lunged his wings forward, and sent all the flying rubble several hundred yards ahead of him.

All became silent, and his eyes stopped glowing purple. He held his head down, and lowered his wings. A moment went by where the air was still and not a single thing moved.

"…Look what I've become…" Omex said quietly. "The result of all my terrible drinking has led me to this. I shouldn't even be a xatu… Luke… Cortez… I'm sorry. This is all my fault… I'm sorry". With that, Omex slowly walked over to the rock he had sat at earlier in the day, and slowly planted himself there. He stared at the ground and didn't move.

Cortez and Luke looked at each other in awe. Cortez couldn't believe what Luke had said to Omex, and he was also floored that Omex didn't tear him apart with his psychic powers. They both stared at Omex from a distance, really unsure of what to do. Cortez turned around and saw the massive destruction that Omex caused. The tall grass was torn apart everywhere, small and massive chunks of rubble and ash lay around the scene. All this destruction, from a psychic tantrum.

"CORTEZ!" Cortez's head quickly darted over to where Omex was sitting, still facing away from him. "You asked me earlier if I wanted to join your exploration group." Cortez's skin crawled as Omex talked. Omex's head slowly turned to face him.

"I think I'm going to take you up on that".


	3. A Small Step In A Long Journey

Cortez gazed off into Heroca Town that rested at the bottom of the hill he was on. Beside him was Luke, who was looking back and forth at Cortez and Omex. Faint sounds of rubble could be heard from behind him of Omex sifting through what was left of his house.

"Here it is! The only thing that survived the fire", Omex said.

Cortez turned around and cautiously approached Omex who was holding a medium sized metal box.

"It's a box…" Luke voluntarily pointed out.

"This box contains everything that I own now", Omex replied. He used his feathers to pop the box open. Cortez expected to see a brightly shining gem of power or the like, but was kinda let down by a few dusty mementos. He set the box down on top of the black charred remains of his house.

Inside several items were packed tightly. The first thing Omex yanked out was the large black cloth that covered the top of what was hiding under. Cortez expected it to just be a cover to protect the insides, but found out it was much more.

"This cloak…", Omex started as he whipped the large black cloth over his body, "I used years ago to help amplify my psychic powers. I used it to create illusions and distractions on my enemies." Omex whipped the cloak in front of Cortez.

"Did that scare you?" He asked. Cortez shook his head no.

"Perhaps I'm a bit rusty. We'll work on that." Before Omex could continue his subject, his attention fell back to the box.

"And here's my trusty explorer's bag!" Omex exclaimed while yanking a bag out that was crushed tightly inside. Cortez noticed the bag was a lot nicer than his, even being obviously carried miles. It had beads hanging off it in an old Indian style. He looked at it longingly.

"Is there anything inside it?" Cortez said.

"No, it's empty", Omex replied as he looked through it anyway. He flipped through several compartments. "Oh, I was wrong, here." He threw Cortez a disgusting old plain seed. It only sat in his hands for less than a second, as his instant reaction was to throw it on the ground.

"That thing has to be at least 10 years old," Omex mentioned. It looked to have something growing out of it. Before Cortez could stare at it any longer, Omex was already on the next item.

Slowly he picked up an old amulet. Its dull gold shine reflected his face back to him. Engraved were a bunch of unown. Omex dropped all his enthusiasm. Luke and Cortez waited to hear a brief summary on the item, but instead Omex stared at it. He took a deep breath. He then suddenly chucked the amulet through the air over the horizon. It completely caught them both by surprise.

"NOOOO!" Luke yelled. He sprinted after the thing, his dog instincts kicking in.

"Damn it Luke, leave it!" Omex shouted. It didn't faze Luke at all. He watched him run away. When Luke got far, Omex turned to look at Cortez, who still had a face of fear and confusion. Omex's dipped mood had Cortez believing the item was cursed or something.

Almost as quickly as Luke had left, he was right back with the amulet in his mouth. He dropped it on the ground a foot in front of him.

"I don't normally fancy a game of fetch at this time!" Luke exclaimed.

"Omex, what is it?" Cortez asked, showing much curiosity.

Omex let out a sigh. "This specific item is called _Amulet of Unown Power_. It only spawns once a lifetime in a dungeon called the Isolated Tomb. If it is worn, it provides a massive buff to all your mental and physical capabilities. You could buy a town with the sell price on this."

Cortez felt like he was going to pass out. He absolutely adored treasure like this, and to see something so rare was beyond his wildest dreams. He only one day hoped to achieve the strength needed to retrieve an item like that. Luke looked at it skeptically.

"Why did you throw it?" Was the only thing Cortez could stutter out.

"Because I hate it. I never want to see it again. I…" Omex looked down. In the box was a crinkled picture. It was faded and was about 7 inches in size. He picked it up and stared at it longingly.

Cortez saw in the picture Omex in his black cloak, with his wings resting on a shiftry and a grumpig. They were all smiling and looking to have a great time. Omex fixated on the portrait. He pointed at the grumpig. "He's the most badass grumpig you'd ever meet. Fearless. Smart. Yet very caring and thoughtless."

He looked up at Cortez and Luke. "Have any of you heard of the million piece?" Both shook their heads no.

"Yeah, not a lot of people had. It was a myth we wanted to break. Legend has it there existed a pokecoin worth a million. Me and my exploration team, Team Madcrack, we went out to retrieve it, and split it 3 ways. 333,333 dollars apiece, and Arno claimed that extra dollar left over." Omex chuckled.

"We had the route mapped out. The dungeons we would cover. Each time we got out of a mystery dungeon that went lower into the earth, it only got harder. As we got deeper, we realized how hard it would be going backwards. Eventually we hit this dungeon. And Arno finds this damn amulet. It was swarmed with raging unown. I swore they were level 100. Had to be. All of us knew how rare it was."

"That's when I made my most regrettable mistake ever. AND I DON'T DESERVE IT!" Omex reached his wing into the air, his eyes lit up purple, and crushed the amulet into a thousand pieces, instantly dissolving the item out of existence.

Cortez's eyes widened as big as his dropped jaw. Luke's shocked face might've been more entertaining than his.

"No… why Omex?!" Cortez shouted. "That thing was so rare! So powerful! How could you do such a thing?!"

"It was a blood item to me. Its existence only reminds me of my decisions!" Omex declared.

"Destroying it doesn't make any mistakes go away!" Cortez said back.

"You don't understand Cortez. I was holding onto that item because of greed. Because of selfishness. Because I was a coward. And holding onto it only consumed me. It brought me no joy, only self-doubt and misery. And now it's gone. I couldn't have sold it or given it to anyone knowing it was still out there. So I finally did what I needed to do years ago."

Omex picked the picture back up. "And I finally feel peace knowing it's gone. I'm going to complete my mission. I'm going to find the million piece, even if it kills me. And Bergis can decide if he wants to go with me or not!" Omex stared at the shiftry in the picture.

"I wonder how Bergis is doing these days. We're going to go see him in Scarland City. That's our first destination guys."

Cortez decided to drop the argument with the amulet. As upset as he was to see such an item destroyed, yelling about it wouldn't change anything. "Scarland City? That place is huge! On top of Scar Mountain!" Cortez announced.

"That's the one", Omex replied. "I hope the mystery dungeons leading up to the place won't scare you off."

Omex's words gave him a scary reminder. "Oh yeah… are they hard?" Cortez asked.

"They're relatively easy. Relatively to me anyways", Omex said back. "Don't worry, we'll be fine."

"I don't think I can handle another dungeon", Luke groaned.

"I'll make an explorer out of you yet Luke", Omex announced. He pulled the last thing out of the box. It was a sack of pokecoins.

"10,000 to be exact. We should be able to buy everything we need to set out on our adventure. Every explorer needs to be adequately equipped", he said.

With that, the xatu stood up, kicked the box into the rubble and made his way to town.

"Wait up!" Luke yelled.

Cortez was very excited. He was finally forming an exploration team, one he always wanted.

"This is so exciting! The riches, the rewards, the danger!" Cortez piped on beside Omex as they were walking.

"Don't let it get to your head Corty. That's all nice, but it's important not to let it consume you. It consumed me. It was a fix for me not being able to see the future."

"I just hope you don't go bonkers again", Luke mentioned.

"Now when I have been known to go bonkers?" Omex asked.

"All the time…" he said to himself.

The 3 made it to the kecleon shop. Omex threw the doors open cockily. The kecleon was surprised to see them.

"Oh, Omex! Was that your house on the hill that was erupted in flames?" The kecleon asked all bug-eyed.

"That's the one Mr. Kecleon!" Omex replied.

"My goodness, are you okay?!"

"Never better!" Omex slammed the large bag of money down on the table. "Listen Keckler, I need all the proper fixings for these fresh explorers. Apples, seeds, berries, orbs, items, the whole nine yards. A bag for the houndour, and a gummi for each of them!"

Omex turned around. "What color gummis do you guys want?"

Cortez's eyes widened. "Oh wow, uh, yellow I guess."

"Red… no wait… sky! No! Uh… gold! No!" Luke was totally confused.

"Better make his white", Omex said. The kecleon didn't move. His astonished look grew to concern. "Are you okay Omex? I think you need to lie down." The kecleon said.

"You better fucking do what I asked", Omex said cordially.

The kecleon gulped. "Right away sir!" He announced. He immediately started grabbing items from his shelves. Cortez was in for a treat. Gummis were certainly a fine delicacy. He only had a few in his life. Only rich or powerful pokemon got a hold of them on a regular basis. They were said to even raise your intelligence or strength.

"Wow Omex, thanks!" Luke said while jumping around.

"No, no, thank _you_ Luke, for believing in me. And you too Cortez." Omex said graciously.

"Are you sure it's okay to spend all this money?" Cortez asked.

"What the hell else am I going to do with it? Buy booze? No thanks. I'm changing my ways. It's time to stop lying around."

"You could buy a new house", Cortez mentioned.

"That's the last thing I need right now." Cortez was through trying to convince him to keep his money.

The kecleon now had a variety of items laid out on the table. There was an assortment of apples, seeds, berries, and a few orbs.

"Here's a bag for Luke", he said while sliding a fresh leather bag over the counter. "The total will be 9,235 pokecoins."

Omex reviewed the items on the table. "Hmmm… add 2 more escape orbs. And you can keep the change of whatever's left." Omex started tossing several items into his bag.

"Cortez let me see your bag." Omex took his bag and started filling it with the goods. "Do you know how to use any of this stuff?" He asked.

"Yeah", Cortez responded, "for the most part. I watched a lot of explorer TV." When Omex finished stuffing his bag he went for Luke's next. He threw in the remaining items on the table.

"Whew, those X-Eye seeds will mess someone up badly. Be careful with those", Omex mentioned as he slid the last seed in the bag.

The kecleon sifted through the bag of money while Omex finished up. "I don't know what you're planning Omex, but you better not put those kids in any harm", he stated.

"I don't pay you for your opinions", Omex replied while storming out. With weighted traveler bags, Luke and Cortez followed him out.

"So we're set now", Omex announced outside the kecleon mart. He pulled his world map out. It displayed Heroca Town.

"Zoom out", Omex commanded. The map suddenly rewrote itself to display the local continent. "There", he pointed with his finger. "That's Scar mountain, and the city on top. We will cut through Bluewood, past Fern Outpost, and take Scar Mountain dungeon up to the top." He rolled the map up and slid it back into the bag. "Are there any questions?"

"Are we going to find rare treasure?!" Cortez asked excitedly.

"I seriously doubt it. These are simple dungeons. No themed loot in any of them. You may find some scarves or bands worth a few coins, but nothing more", Omex replied. That was good enough for Cortez.

Luke looked annoyed. "There's gonna be more feral monsters, right?"

"Luke, you need to get it through your head. If it's a dungeon, it has ferals", Cortez said while turning to Luke.

"I was afraid of that…"

"Then we're off", Omex said while throwing the black hood of his cloak over. He walked away down the path.

As they walked towards the edge of the city, Cortez tried to make some conversation.

"So, your team. You said it was Madcrack, right?" Cortez started.

"Okay…" Omex said back.

"Were you guys like, official? Or not?"

"If you're asking if we were licensed or not, yes we were. Went through an explorer's guild back in the day and got certified."

"Wow, you guys must've been the best of the best!" Cortez declared loudly.

"Well, we could certainly hold our own", Omex responded humbly.

"How did you meet your team mates? What's the story on that?" Luke chimed in.

"Well, I didn't know them at first. When I finally evolved to a xatu decades ago, I wanted to do something meaningful with my life. It was odd for a xatu to do anything else than stare at the sun and be a future teller, but… you guys know my predicament. Anyways I could've opened a shop, ran a service, had a family… but I opted to be an explorer. I was admitted to a guild ran by a really old golduck. Right in Scarland City. And I met Bergis and Arno there. We all went along so well, and excelled in being a team together. So that's really it", Omex finished.

Cortez's eyes dazzled at the awesome tale Omex told. "I can't believe I'm in a team with such a strong pokemon!"

"Well, I wouldn't officially call us a team yet buddy", Omex said back. Soon they made it to the town edge blocked off by a forest. There was a hole in the center the let off an eerie aura.

"There you have it, Bluewood dungeon entrance", Omex stated before waltzing in. Luke hesitantly followed with Cortez.


	4. All Isn't What It Seems

A helioptile was sprinting down a narrow pathway. The dirt floor was covered with leaves and the walls were tightly packed trees. The overhang of the branches above gave the mystery dungeon a dim feel compared to the previous one he had been in.

Behind this helioptile was a rattata and a sentret in pursuit of him.

"Cortez! You gonna hit them or what?!" Omex's voice echoed from the end of the pathway he was running down.

"I don't think I can!" Is what he responded with.

"You better do _something_! I'm not getting you out of this one again!"

Once Cortez got far away enough, he turned back around and started charging electricity. His frills flared up and glowed yellow. As the rattata came close, he shot a bolt of electricity on the pursuer. It blasted the rattata backwards, but he shook it off and drew closer to Cortez.

As the rattata and sentret closed in, Cortez put his hands over his scared face.

"Damn it", Omex muttered as he jumped in the way, lurched his wing forward, and sent the two feral pokemon barreling backwards.

Cortez slowly put his arms down to see Omex looking down at him annoyed. Cortez didn't want to make eye contact with him.

"I'm sorry Omex, I just don't have any strength. Running around them has always worked for me before…"

"It's not going to work that way forever!" He responded back harshly. Omex sighed. "We're going to work this out Cortez. Electric types are excellent offensively. They are better than most types in that way. So that should already give you a natural advantage."

Omex's eyes darted to Luke who was standing in an open room. Upon Luke's noticing of Omex, he perked up.

"What about me? How am I doing?" Luke said hopefully.

"You're doing just fine!" Omex announced. "Breathing those nasty flames will solve most of your problems early on!"

Luke responded with a look of approval.

Cortez grew very gloomy, something Omex or Luke hadn't seen yet in him. His head fell towards the ground, and his frills sagged.

"I don't think I'm cut out for this after all…" He said quietly to himself.

Omex took a knee to be on the same level as Cortez. He rested one wing on Cortez's shoulder, and one lifted his head up.

"Cortez, listen to me. If there is one thing I've learned after 20 years of exploring, it's that _anyone_ can be an explorer. I used to be like you. On top of my natural disability, my psychic powers sucked ass when I started out."

That made Cortez giggle some.

"But I never gave up, and I need you to not give up", Omex added.

"Okay", Cortez finally managed.

Omex looked up and down the dungeon to make sure no ferals were around. He stood back up, and studied the area. Then he focused back on Cortez.

"Look, this may not be the best place, but I want you to hit me with the best electric attack you have. And then I can analyze what you're not doing right", Omex stated.

Cortez grew concerned. "Oh, Omex, I don't think that's a good idea…"

Luke drew closer when he heard of this proposal. He had some input too.

"Can I hit you with a flamethrower?!" Luke asked excitedly.

"NO! Cortez only!" He turned back to Cortez. "I don't have all day, it won't hurt, trust me. Let's go."

Cortez was still cautious "Okay… if you're sure it won't hurt…"

"I can take a lot more than whatever you can dish out, buddy", Omex said back reassuringly.

Cortez prepared himself. He stood up straight. His frills flared open. Sparks danced among them. Omex's eyes focused intently at Cortez. He grunted a bit then shot a bolt of electricity.

As soon as the bolt exited Cortez, Omex extended his wing to catch the shock. The electricity noticeably travelled up his wing and swirled down his body to the ground.

"Weak. Not even a tickle", Omex mentioned. He went over and gave Cortez a few hard pats on his torso. "From the chest man! I want a deep breath, and I want it coming from the chest!"

Omex returned to his former stance. "Again! And from the chest!"

Cortez inhaled and charged up another attack. He had his chest puffed out. On top of lurching his head forward some, he exhaled loudly as a brighter shock of electricity escaped his body. Omex caught it again, and Luke and Cortez watched the brighter bolt swirl down his body and into the ground.

"Alright, better, but I still notice potential." Omex walked over to Cortez and grabbed his frill and extended it.

"Listen, I know this is your main way of generating electricity", he started while studying the black frill. "But you can generate electricity with _all_ the muscles on your body. Use them all, not just the frills…"

"I am using all my muscles!" Cortez said back.

"No…! Well, yes, you're using them when you strain for that attack and flex your whole body, but I want electricity _dancing_ in those muscles", Omex said while patting his arms and legs. "And then, once you have that, it all exits out the frills in a powerful and painful blast!"

Omex stood back and braced for another attack. "I want another!" He said.

"Omex, I'm getting tired…"

"Now, damn it!"

Cortez rolled his eyes, but went for another charge. He grunted as his frills lit up.

"In the muscles too!" Omex yelled.

Cortez grunted louder. His frills glowed brighter. His eyes went yellow.

"In the muscles too!" Omex taunted again.

Cortez strained hard. He felt like his body was on fire. Sparks started to dance around on his entire body now.

"Everything you've got!" Omex continued.

"EEAAAUUGGHH!" Cortez exploded a harsh volt of electricity.

"HOLY SHIT!" Omex yelled. He immediately switched tactics. Instead of having a wing extended, he put both wings out, used reflect, and redirected the huge bolt of electricity sideways down the pathway.

All three of them watched the thunderbolt travel down the pathway, frying anything that dared to stand in its way. Cortez fell on the ground, panting really hard. Luke continued to gaze awkwardly.

"Wow. That was _not_ something I wanted running through my body…" Omex finally said.

"Dude, Cortez, you're a natural! You must be as good as me now!" Luke applauded.

"I can't do that again!" Cortez barely made out.

"Maybe not now, but you're going to continue to exercise those electric muscles. We're going to make you the next Zapdos!" Omex declared.

Cortez managed a thumbs up.

In the distance a crazy eyed oddish was running up to them. Without looking, Omex whisked his wing, sending the oddish hurling backwards.

"So, are we ready to continue, or what?"

"Too… tired…" Cortez said.

"Hmm", Omex said while fumbling in his bag. He pulled out a max elixir. He threw it on Cortez's chest. "Ever have one of these?"

Cortez tilted his head up and saw the substance encased in a glass jar. "A max elixir… no I haven't."

"It does wonders. Try it out."

Cortez popped the lid open and swallowed the plain-tasting liquid substance. Immediately Cortez felt energy rush through his body. Electricity danced within his brain again. He stood up.

"Woah! What do they put in those things?!" Cortez said enthusiastically.

"It's best if you don't know. Let's go."

"Yeah, let's go, lazy!" Luke added. "Hey!" Cortez yelled back.

The three continued to walk. They found the stairs to the next floor.

"Listen, only you guys will be doing the attacking. You guys need the experience far more than I do", Omex started.

"What if I can't do it on my own?" Cortez asked.

"Do what I told you and you'll be fine. Use all your muscles. And let it absorb in your chest before exhaling it." Omex looked at Luke. "All Luke does is use his chest and exhale. Look at all the havoc he can create."

"It's more in the back of the throat actually", Luke mentioned.

"Good job Luke", Omex said, now trying to drop it. He didn't want a long summary of how he breathes fire.

Suddenly a shelmet appeared. Luke instantly lurched forward but Omex blocked him off.

"No, no. This is Cortez's fight." He said.

The shelmet ran awkwardly. It wasn't very fast. Cortez flared his frills. He performed a stance with his chest out. Electricity ran through his body. As the shelmet approached, Cortez threw a thunderbolt at it. It flew backwards and smacked the ground.

"Ow! Damn!" He yelled.

Suddenly Omex's eyes widened greatly. "Holy shit, he's not feral!" Omex pushed Luke and Cortez out of the way to inspect the fallen shelmet.

"Hey man! I'm so sorry! Are you okay?!" Omex rolled the shelmet over, face up. Cortez put his hand over his mouth at his mistake.

"Please…" He said meekly. "An… oran berry if you will… cough! Wheeze!" Omex pulled out a blue berry and gave it to him. He munched it down immediately.

"I was so glad to find help. I've been stuck in here for 3 days." He added.

"You could've yelled something to us instead of running up like a feral", Cortez said.

"Sorry. I was too excited. My apologies." The shelmet recovered and stood up, after being fed the oran berry.

"My name is Azoth. I live in Fern Outpost. I've never been in a mystery dungeon in my life, and some jerks pushed me in here! I've been trying to get out, but I think I've been going the wrong way!"

"Yeah, you've been going the wrong way for quite some time. You're almost at Heroca Town", Omex stated.

"Oh bother!" Azoth announced. "Would you mind escorting me back to Fern Outpost?"

"Ride along", Omex offered. "You can ride on Luke's back."

"What?" Luke yelled.

"YES!" Omex said back forcefully.

"Thank you, brave heroes. What might your exploration team name be?" Azoth asked.

"Oh! Our name is… uh…" Cortez started.

"We're not really an exploration team", Omex added.

"Oh, my apologies again. I saw the traveler bags and assumed…" Azoth said.

"It's no problem." Omex said back while picking the shelmet up and placing him on Luke's back.

"Hey howya doin'" Luke asked shortly.

"Let's keep moving now", Omex announced.

The group started following Omex through the dungeon again. Cortez ran up to talk to Omex.

"Hey Omex", Cortez whispered. "Why did you say we were not an exploration team?"

Omex replied with a sigh. "Look, I wanted this to wait until later, but I'm mainly going back to Scarland City to see some old friends. In the meantime, I want you and Luke to join an expedition guild that I know of."

"What?" Cortez became frantic. "I don't want to join a guild! I want to stay with you!"

"I know, but you need this. The training they give you in a guild is unlike any other. Plus, you get official licenses to be exploration members."

"I don't care about all that! Have you heard the horrors that happen in a guild?! They make you go through all these unnecessary classes. And they force you to conform with their schedule and demands! And what's worse, _they take a 90 percent cut of everything you make!_ "

"It's good for you Cortez. You learn a lot. You make lots of friends. It will make you a better person" Omex stated.

"But _you_ can teach me everything I need to know!" Cortez tried back.

"I know. But I can't baby you through all of this. Have you ever heard the phrase 'no pain, no gain'? Sometimes you need pushed with harsh conditions to make you stronger. And a guild will cater to your every need to help you develop. I'm not going to argue this. It's very rare any explorer makes it successfully without the aid of a guild."

Cortez was very crestfallen. He had hoped to become an explorer without all those 'unnecessary' steps that needed to be took. He had hoped to join up with some strong pokemon and go from there. He had hoped Omex would've been that answer. But even he was adamant about guilds. Just like everyone else.

"…okay Omex. If you think that's best", Cortez finally agreed.

"I _know_ it's best. I'm not trying to hold you back Cortez, I'm trying to help you. And I need you to help Luke and encourage him as well. I want to see him shine as much as you."

The group continued through the dungeon. They ran into countless ferals over and over, and Omex successfully instructed Cortez and Luke on what to do. Omex gave them brief summaries on many items in their bags, and taught them weaknesses and resistances on many of the pokemon they encountered. But almost every time he explained something, he told them the guild would explain it better. Omex knew Cortez was upset about joining a guild, and he tried convincing him every step of the way on what a great experience it was. Luke didn't have a problem with it however.

Soon they were growing close on the exit of Bluewood Forest.

"How did you make it out here for 3 days?" Luke asked the shelmet on his back.

"Oh, it was simply horrible. I caught wind of the ferals the lurked in these mysterious dungeons, but lordy, I had no idea of the severity of their primitiveness. They just yearned for violence! I don't even know how to fight!" Azoth responded.

"How the hell did you make it out here for so long?!" Luke said.

"Well, I would shut my helmet like this", Azoth said as his metal helmet clamped shut, hiding his face. "And then I ran in a corner and hid until everyone went away! I waited hoping someone would come to my rescue, but minutes turned to hours, and hours turned to days. Soon, I didn't think anyone was coming to my rescue! So I had to fend off those wild beasts myself while trying to find a way out!" Azoth sighed. "It hadn't been going well. Not until I stumbled upon you classy gents!"

"Woah, thanks. I always wanted to be a classy gent. I think…" Luke responded.

"Oh most definitely!"

Omex suddenly yelled.

"The exit, everyone! Right there." Omex pointed to a golden set of stairs that told it was the final staircase.

"Sweet succulence! I'm coming home mother!" The shelmet was the first to run up the stairs. He had jumped off of Luke's back.

"Quick, follow the overly enthusiastic gentleman!" Luke yelled while also running up the stairs.

Cortez was finally glad to be out. The evening sun shone down on the three. In the distance Azoth could be seen running into a small hut. Several other huts accompanied the area.

"I can't believe how late it's getting. We should probably find a place to stay for the night. I think this Fern Outpost has an inn somewhere."

"How did we do in there Omes?" Luke asked.

"You guys both did great. I think Cortez made some serious improvement today", Omex said back.

As they approached the Outpost, Azoth poked his head out of the hut he had just ran into.

"Yoo-hoo! My friends, my mother would like to make your acquaintance! Would you kindly meet us in here?"

"Sure!" Cortez yelled. When the three entered the cozy, small hut, a heracross stood crying.

"Mother, these are the gentlemen that rescued me!" Azoth said to her.

"Oh bless your souls, each one of you!" The heracross ran up and gave Cortez a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Next she went after Luke.

"Oh no, no, no!" It was too late. She had Luke locked tightly in her arms and he also received a peck on the cheek.

Then she went after Omex. He didn't refuse a hug, but stood up straight, amplifying the fact of how much taller he was than the heracross, so she couldn't give him a kiss as well.

"The… pleasure is ours, miss", Omex said softly.

"I was so sure my little Azoth would be lost! Some horrible bullies pushed him in there. This settlement is so small; I could not get a soul to get in there to find him! There must be something I can do for you lads. Perhaps some money will settle this!" The heracross ran into another room.

"No ma'am, please! No money is necessary!" Omex yelled. She came back with some pokecoins anyway.

"Oh, phooey. There must be some way I can repay you!"

"Well, you can repay us by telling us where the local inn is located. We were passing through and need a place to stay for the night." Omex asked.

"Oh, I am sorry to say, but this place does not have an inn. But I _insist_ , you _must_ stay here for the night then. I won't take no for an answer!"

Omex turned to look at Cortez and Luke. "What do you guys say? Want to stay the night here?"

"It's fine by me", Luke replied.

"Yeah", Cortez added.

"Splendid, splendid!" The heracross piped out. I will have supper ready soon. Please, make yourselves comfortable.

Omex shrugged his bag off, and plopped on a couch in the living room. Cortez and Luke did the same.

The hut was quite small. It was made from twigs and leaves packed tightly together. The furniture in the house was sparse, but it seemed good enough.

Azoth entered the living room with them.

"So where might you guys be off to?" He asked.

"Scarland City!" Cortez announced proudly. "We're going to be explorers."

"I _knew_ you would be! No one walks around in a mystery dungeon with those traveler bags for no reason. You didn't have to hide it from me."

"Me and Luke here are going to join a guild up there and become famous. We will earn riches and rewards", Cortez explained.

"Making the world a better place!" Azoth added. "What about Mr. Omex here? Is he going to be an explorer too?"

"I've been an explorer for quite some time now. Just have been retired", Omex stated.

"What he did during retirement though wasn't the best", Luke added.

"AHEM!" Omex started, trying to change the subject. "So Azoth, do you do anything for fun?"

The heracross came out to the living room. "Oh, my little Azzie just loves to color! He has a few portraits in his room!"

"MOTHER!" Azoth exclaimed. The heracross took a seat by Omex and crossed her legs. "Just gorgeous pictures. He draws like a real smeargle you know!"

Luke started chuckling.

"I hardly find this fact appropriate!" He stammered.

"And he loves his tea parties with Mr. Snuggleheim!" She added.

Luke finally exploded with laughter.

Azoth shut his helmet over his face and ran to his room, but not before bumping into a wall.

"You have a great kid", Omex finally said.

"Yes, and I'm so glad he's home! This is where he belongs!" She put her hands in her lap. Suddenly a beeper went off in the kitchen.

"Oh my, done already! Please excuse me for the time being." She got up and went off towards the kitchen.

"Well he's definitely a momma's boy!" Luke cried out.

Cortez shushed him immediately. "He's probably over sheltered I think."

"I wouldn't say that's too far off", Omex added quietly.

There was a bit of silence, but not too long, as the heracross came out with some plates of food.

"Here we go! Fresh potatoes, some green beans and corn! And for dessert I made an excellent pecha berry pie! It's simply to die for!" She handed out everyone a plate.

"Azoth, come on out! Mommy's made dinner!" She yelled over her shoulder.

A sulky shelmet appeared from the hallway, and grabbed a plate of food. He sat by the brave adventurers. Everyone started chowing down.

"This is so good!" Cortez announced. "I haven't had home cooking this good in ages!"

"I haven't had _food_ like this in ages", Omex added.

"I'm so glad it's delicious!" The heracross happily said.

"Mother has always cooked delectably. It's one of her strong suits." Azoth barely said with potatoes in his mouth.

"Sweetie don't talk with your mouth full!" She commanded.

Cortez and Luke looked at each other awkwardly.

When they finished their plates, she was there to collect them. Azoth continued to look sulky. It was starting to bother Cortez.

After the heracross took the plates in the kitchen, she came back out with four slices of pie for everyone but herself.

"Now don't go eating it all fast! Enjoy every bite", she said, handing everyone a plate. When she got to Cortez he put his hand up.

"Oh, no thanks. I ate quite a bit, I don't think I should eat anymore", Cortez said as politely as he could.

"Oh don't be so shy! I couldn't take no for an answer!"

"Please ma'am. Perhaps another time. I'm sure your pie is delicious, but I can't eat anymore", Cortez tried again.

"Take the pie!" She hissed, forcing the plate on his lap.

The room got silent.

"And you will _enjoy_ every bite!" She demanded.

Cortez had a look of fear on his face. He looked towards Omex, the only person who might be able to help. He had half the pie in his mouth, but he swallowed.

"Excuse me miss, but I don't think he has to eat the pie if he doesn't want to", Omex said nicely.

"He will simply do what he's told! He's under my house, and these are my rules", she said back.

The tension in the air was growing exponentially. Sensing the problems ahead, Azoth ran out and made his way to his room.

Also sensing the tension, Omex put his pie down and adjusted his seating.

"We're guests here, and as politely as I can put it, we're not inclined to do whatever you command us", he said. "Cortez doesn't want the pie, and he's not going to eat it."

"Who do you think you are?! Coming into _my_ house like some abusive father and telling me how to raise these kids?!" She started to shout.

Omex stood up. "First off, these aren't your kids! And secondly, _you invited us_. And I won't allow you to do force them to do anything!"

Omex grabbed his bag and swung it on. "Come on guys, _we're leaving!"_ Omex started for the door.

"You know what I think of you?" She snapped, "how could such a freak drag some kids into a mystery dungeon for your own entertainment?! How dare you! And to think my son now looks up to you! You will certainly pay for this, you abusive monster!"

Omex turned around. His eyes started to glow purple.

"You will not talk to me that way! You're obviously fucking crazy as hell, I can tell something happened to you a while back, but I feel bad for your kid who has to put up with your obsessive shit!"

"HOW DARE YOU!" She quickly clawed Omex across the face and kicked him down onto the floor.

Omex instantly got up and threw her up against the wall with his psychic power. "You picked the wrong person to fight with", he said quietly.

Somehow she managed to break out of his hold and flew towards him. She quick and nimble, her punches came quick, and for the first time ever, Luke and Cortez saw Omex's fighting methods. Every lightning fast punch the heracross delivered, Omex swung out of the way or blocked. Omex performed several advanced evasive maneuvers, and landed several swift kicks onto the heracross. While she was dazed from that, Omex swung her around the walls of the house, harshly slamming her onto every corner of the room with his psychic power.

After he toyed with her a bit, he threw her on the floor, where she barely made her way up. She weakly approached him again for more punches, but with one wing he deflected several hits.

Omex then grabbed her head with both wings. His eyes glowed brightly purple, and delivered what looked to be a powerful mind shock that sent the heracross out. When he released his grasp, she fell over, unmoving.

For a second everything was quiet. Omex reached up to clean some blood off his face.

"Damn bitch was crazy as hell. Strong as hell as well." He mentioned.

Cortez couldn't believe what had just happened. How could such a sweet woman be like this? He was so thankful Omex was there. Even though she was beat, she was really powerful, as Omex had mentioned.

"Man, Omex, if you weren't here, she may have kept us forever", Cortez stated. He went over and hugged him.

"Thank you. For everything…" he said sweetly.

"Man, get off!" Omex pushed Cortez away. "Acting crazy as hell too."

Azoth came around the corner crying.

"Thank you, thank you good sirs! You have freed me from her wretched rule! She wasn't _even my real mother_!"

"WHAT?!" Omex yelled.

"Precisely! She captured me and I had been living with her ever since. And I wasn't pushed into that mystery dungeon, _I was running away!_ But I got scared she would find me and kill me, so I had to go back!" Azoth yelled.

"I can't believe it! She was a psycho! A pokemon who hoarded kids! She seemed so nice, who'da thought it…" Omex stated while looking at the fainted heracross. "I'm reporting this. She needs to be put away."

"What about me?" Azoth asked frantically.

"What about you?" Omex said.

"I have no home now!"

"You need to find one!" Omex said while leaving the house and going into the small town.

The shelmet's eyes fell to the ground.

"Hey", Cortez started. "Why don't you come with us and become an explorer?"

"Oh me? I couldn't possibly! I am in no shape to combat feral pokemon!" Azoth responded.

"I'm not really either! Anyone can do it! Wouldn't you want to help other pokemon like you mentioned?"

"Yes but…"

"We're going to a guild. They will help you every step along the way. They cater to your every need." Cortez looked over into the town. "Someone I know told me that."

Azoth sighed. "Well, I haven't got much other options, do I?"

"You can start a new life there!" Cortez added.

Azoth thought for a bit. He let the thoughts wrestle in his mind.

"Oh… I suppose I will!" He finally said.

"Great! Now you'll be travelling with me and Luke!"

"Huzzah! Luke's back is most comfortable!"

"Yeah, you're walking now buddy", Luke mentioned.

"Oh bother! Doth the high life not last forever?" Azoth questioned.

"No, it doesn't", Luke said back. He didn't think Azoth was being funny.

Omex suddenly returned with some flashing magnemite. He was sipping a potion that was making his cut on his face decrease by the minute.

"There she is gents", Omex said, pointing to the heracross. The magnemite ran a scan.

"GLORIA THE HERACROSS. WANTED ON SEVERAL COUNTS OF CHILD KIDNAPPING." Two of the magnemite pushed themselves beside the heracross on both directions, effectively lifting her up and taking her away.

"THANK YOU VERY MUCH" The magnemite started. He ran a scan on all four of them.

He started with Cortez.

"NAME:" the magnemite said.

"Uh, Cortez…" he said back.

"CORTEZ THE HELIOPTILE." Next he went over to Luke.

"NAME:"

"Luke, and don't you forget it!"

"LUKE THE HOUNDOUR. AND A COCKY ONE AT THAT."

"Hey!" Luke yelled back. Next he went to Azoth.

"NAME:"

"Azoth", he said quietly.

"AZOTH THE SHELMET."

Next the magnemite went over to Omex. He scanned him, and instead of asking for him name, said the following -

"OMEX THE XATU. RANK DOUBLE MASTER. ON BEHALF OF THE MAGNEZONE POLICE SQUAD, WE THANK YOU AND YOUR TEAM FOR YOUR SUPPORT TO POKEMON OVER THE YEARS. HAVE A GOOD EVENING." With that the magnemite left with the heracross.

Then the four of them were alone once again.

"Rank _DOUBLE MASTER?!_ " Cortez cried out.

"Yeah, whoop-dee-doo", Omex said back.

"What the hell Omex?! You never mentioned your team was that legendary! Do you know there are teams who strive their whole lives just trying to earn a single master, _and you had double?!_ "

"It's not a big deal Cortez. I'd rather not talk about it."

"It's a really big deal!"

"Enough! I just want to go to bed!" Omex stormed back into the empty, beat up house. The rest followed him in.

Cortez noticed the place was more of a wreck than he realized. The walls were cracked and banged up good, along with the floor and the ceiling.

Omex slumped down on the couch, and got comfy.

"I presume I will be sleeping in my old room?" Azoth said.

"Old room?" Omex said with concern.

"He's going with us to the Scarland guild", Luke said while cuddling on the floor.

"Oh, joyous", Omex retorted.

Soon everyone got situated. Cortez turned off the light, and laid on a couch opposite to Omex. Several minutes passed and everyone started to drift off to sleep.

"Hey Omex", Cortez said in the quiet night.

"Yes Cortez?" Omex said back.

"Why did you ever quit Team Madcrack?"

Omex was silent for a few seconds. Cortez knew he hated talking about his past life as an explorer, and knew he would juggle around an answer he felt comfortable with.

"Several unfortunate events caused us to disband. And that's all I'm going to say about it. Don't bring it back up."

Cortez heard Omex shift around so his back was against him. It really made Cortez think. Was Omex _really_ drinking because he was disabled? Or did something else happen to him that drove him insane? He was dying to know.

"…okay", Cortez finally said, before going to sleep.


	5. A Secret Past

Three pokemon moved through a mystery dungeon. One clobbered the hell out of another pokemon that ran up to them.

Soon the three pokemon were in a room.

"Four hundred fucking floors and we still haven't gotten shit!" A pokemon yelled out. His voice was very raucous and strangled. "How much longer do you want to keep this up?!"

"I'm getting hesitant. At this point we're seriously risking our lives. My escape orb is looking better and better each time I look at it!" Another pokemon said.

"You better drop those fucking ideas right now! We did not travel 400 floors to turn around now!" The third pokemon said.

"This is more than an expedition now. We're putting our lives at stake!" The first pokemon said. He started hacking and wheezing really hard.

"I don't give a shit about that! I'll be god damned if you guys fucking quit on me now!"

There was much tension in the air, and a feeling as if the three pokemon might tear apart at any moment.

"Look out!"

One of the pokemon in the group got knocked against the wall by a massive and powerful pokemon.

"Holy shit. I've never seen one so up close…"

The huge opposing pokemon slammed its body hoping to hit another one.

One of the pokemon in the group moved quickly. He threw his powerful attack on the large one, hoping to stun him. It barely fazed it.

Luckily the other pokemon in the group had the strength required to slam it hard.

"EEAAUUGHH! Holy fuck, this is nothing I've seen before!" The pokemon strained hard to talk, you could feel the pain he was going through.

"Are you okay?"

"Got him!" The large pokemon fell off the side of something.

"He's not okay!"

One pokemon was coughing up blood.

"Fucking bastard… hit me harder than I thought…"

"Look at him! It's time to go home! The pokemon are even deadlier and stronger!"

A pokemon fought hard to stand up. "Shit, I'm fed up."

"We have to keep going! I _know_ we're getting close… we have to be. Just a few more floors!"

"We're out of items, no food, no shit, our health is on the brink of destruction, and you're telling me you want to keep going?!"

More coughing. More blood.

"Get your ass together!" One of the pokemon pushed another.

The three continued to travel. They progressed through several floors. Each time they went down another floor, this eerie feeling kept growing. It was an uncomfortable, indescribable, uncertainty feeling.

The three pokemon continued to argue, even to the point of fighting each other.

"That's it, _I'm using it_!"

" _THE FUCK YOU ARE!"_

A pokemon pulled out a shiny orb. As soon as he did, another pokemon lurched towards him and slapped the orb out of his hand.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

The pokemon started fighting.

"You've lost it! You've lost it, you crazy fucking psycho!"

Punches were thrown. Each punch could be felt.

The growing eerie feeling became overwhelming. It was agonizing.

This uncomfortable feeling, what was it?

The orb was smashed. The already shadowy seen grew darker.

"What have you done?!"

"You've killed us all!"

"If we go back, WE MIGHT AS WELL CONSIDER OURSELVES DEAD!"

The feeling of uncertainty grew even worse. It was tormenting. What was it? What was this damn feeling?

"Holy shit… can it be?"

There was something. Something glowing so tremendously, it was impossible to make out. The glowing item didn't help this feeling.

It made it worse.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Cortez sat up instantly. He was shivering in a cold sweat. He was scared, he felt helpless. It was a dream he had. A nightmare. It was unlike any other. His heart was racing immensely. He just couldn't get out of his head that glowing item. That damn glowing item was causing all that _dreaded uncertainty_.

Cortez stumbled out of his couch.

"Omex… Omex…" Cortez lightly rubbed the xatu's body.

As he rubbed Omex's body, Cortez started to get more visions of that glowing item. The glowing item was suddenly consumed by a huge black skull.

"OMEX!" He yelled loudly at the sight of the vision.

Omex quickly awoke with a burst of fear.

"HOLY SHIT!" He yelled. Omex sat up and started breathing hard. He grabbed his chest in pain. "AHHGGHH!" He moaned. His eyes darted up to see Cortez standing over him. Omex was also in a sweat.

Cortez watched as Omex slowly recovered himself. His breathing slowed down. He blinked several times to come back to reality.

Finally, he looked to Cortez.

"Cortez…" His breathing still wasn't where it should be. "What are you doing up?"

"I… I… I had a nightmare?"

"A nightmare?! About what?!" Omex was seriously not acting like himself. He was frantic and scared, something Cortez had never seen. It caused serious uneasiness in him. Omex's eyes gazed into his.

"There were three pokemon…"

"Only three?! Not two, not four?!"

"It was three!" Cortez said back. "There was this glowing thing. It was scary. I don't know what it was. I don't want to think about it"

"This can't be happening", Omex said. "Did the pokemon talk?" He pushed.

"Yes… I sure can't remember what it was about. They were all mad at each other…" Cortez responded.

"No", was the only thing Omex managed.

"All I can remember was the floors. There were so many floors. I would've never thought dungeons had so many…" Cortez tried to think hard.

"Was it… 400 floors?" Omex said cautiously.

Cortez snapped his fingers. "Yes. 400." It was coming back to him. "A pokemon destroyed an orb too. It might've been an escape orb."

"Holy shit…" Omex said with his wings over his face.

"How did you know it was 400?!" Cortez demanded.

"That fucking number. 400. I can never forget it!" Omex declared.

"Cortez have a seat." Omex sat up and offered him to sit beside him.

Cortez was really concerned. Omex's eyes suddenly showed a lot of terrible things. A lot of regret, fear, anguish.

"There… are somethings that happened to me that very few pokemon know about. Very dark secrets. These secrets torment me all the time. It lead me to my drinking. God, the drinking. It was the only thing that could stop these damn nightmares. It just keeps replaying in my head."

Omex's wing made a circle motion in the air.

"Over, and over, and over. Every time I go to sleep. All the time while I'm awake… That dream you had… That dream is about me. What really happened. That feeling. _Uncertainty_. I have it way worse than you."

His wing rested on Cortez. "Listen Cortez. I would hate for you to ever think bad of me. It's one of the reasons why I reformed and quit drinking. But I did something really bad. Something I'll regret 'til the day I die. And I can't tell you now, but one day I might be able to. I just need you to know… that I'm not all you think I am. I'm not just a friendly, helpful xatu. Not as much as I want to be"

Cortez felt really scared. "You had that nightmare because of my psychic powers. My nightmares get so strong, if I don't drink, the nightmares literally protrude from my head, and it can be picked up on by other people if they're asleep. That's what happened."

"The alcohol scrambles my mind and my memories, it was the only thing I could do to stay sane. Luke thinks it's because I can't see the future… I got over that long ago. I have worse things that've happened."

"W-why hasn't Luke freaked out?" Cortez stuttered out.

"Luke has no sensitivity to these dreams. It might me because he's a dark type. It might be because only certain pokemon can pick up on it, and you're one of them. Hell if I know." Omex responded.

Cortez and Omex looked at Luke on the floor. He was still completely passed out.

"It's the middle of the night. You need to go back to bed", Omex assured.

"I can't. I'll have that dream of yours again…" Cortez pleaded.

"Hmm" Omex thought. "Pick me off some of the twigs the house is made of. Small ones."

Cortez was confused but did what he was told.

"That long one there. And that short one." Soon he had a few decent sized twigs.

"Hold your hands out with the twigs." Omex ordered. Cortez stuck his hands out with the twigs in nice order.

Omex plucked a few beads of his bag. "These are magic beads", he mentioned while putting them in Cortez's palm with the twigs.

"Now don't move." Omex focused intently on the items in his hand. His eyes went purple, and the twigs and beads rose from his palms and into the air. They started to assemble themselves into an odd fashion. They wove together and through the beads. Soon there was a thick circle with thinner twigs interlacing like a web, along with the beads.

"Woah, what is it?" Cortez asked.

"It's called a dream catcher. Put this by your head every time you sleep and you will never have nightmares again, no matter how bad." Omex explained. He put it in Cortez's hand.

"I think you need this a lot more than me", Cortez said.

"Trust me, if it was that simple, I would've done it a long time ago. Hell, I'd do it if I needed ten of those things around me. It doesn't work on me."

"Oh", Cortez said sadly.

"Let's just go back to sleep. And always keep that thing by you." Omex slumped back down onto the couch.

"Are you going to be alright? Will there be more nightmares?" Cortez asked.

"I'll manage. Just leave me alone. And hey, you better not say _anything_ about this to _anyone_. You hear?"

"Absolutely."

"And please, for god's sake, don't bring this subject back up unless you absolutely have to."

"Yeah."

"Goodnight then." Omex rolled away from Cortez, facing the wall again.

Cortez looked down at his new gift. It had some of the beads on Omex's bag in it. He laid back down on his couch. When he put his head down, he placed the dream catcher right beside him. He stared at it until he fell asleep again.

Cortez heard mumbled noises. "Yeah, okay. Hey, someone get Cortez up."

Upon hearing his name called, his eyes darted open. Azoth was jumping around while Omex struggled to get his gear together.

"I'm going to be an explorer!" Azoth cried out.

"You've certainly gotten excited about it", Luke mentioned. He turned to look at Cortez but saw he was waking up.

"Cortez is already up!" He announced.

Cortez sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"Hey, what's this", Luke asked while picking up his dream catcher. Cortez quickly panicked.

"Give me that!" He yelled, treating the strung twig formation like it was a block of gold. He quickly swiped it back before it could get damaged.

"But I want to know what it is!" Luke exclaimed.

"It's a dream catcher Luke", Omex said back, without looking up to him. "Don't bother it."

Cortez slid the dream catcher into his bag before anyone else would hassle him about it.

Early morning rays of light shone in from the cracks in the ceiling. A few taillows could be heard tweeting in the distance. It was the start of a new day.

"Is everyone ready?" Omex asked. "We're making good time, and I'm not about to lie around waiting."

Cortez stretched his body, and slid his bag on himself. Azoth approached him.

"Good morning good sir! Are you ready to become an explorer?" He asked.

"Yeah", Cortez said groggily. "Why have you grown so excited over it?"

"Well, I thought about it for a while last night. And I thought, it would be a swell idea. Saving pokemon one by one!"

"Uh-huh…", Cortez said. Honestly, Cortez was more in it for the treasure than really helping anyone.

Omex walked out the door. Everyone slowly filed out with him.

Omex slid his map out. He studied it for a bit. Cortez approached him.

"How are we doing, Omex", he asked. After asking the question, he thought it could either be on the progress to the city, or how he was doing last night.

"By tonight", Omex mentioned while putting the map away. "Tonight, we should be in Scarland City, if all goes well. Bergis will put us up for the night."

As they passed through Fern Outpost, they walked by a Kecleon Mart.

"Anyone need anything?" Omex asked. Everyone kinda stared at him. "Oh, right. No one has any money", he mentioned to himself.

Cortez saw a large mountain in the distance, with large entanglement of towers at the top.

"Hey Omex. Is that, way out there…"

"Yeah that's it. A bit of walking, but not too far", Omex replied without letting him finish his sentence.

The mountain actually looked to be very far.

"There will be a mystery dungeon up ahead called Scar Plains. There is a set of stairs in there that will take us into Scar Mountain, and we take that to the top", Omex explained.

"How many floors?" Cortez asked cautiously.

"Not more than 15…"

While Omex and Cortez talked among themselves, Azoth and Luke were chatting in the back. Even though Luke said Azoth was not going to ride on his back again, there he was sitting up there. Their laughter could be heard up front.

"Why do you talk like that?" Luke asked.

"How so?" Azoth said back.

"Like, good chaps, good day, exquisite idea…" Luke said in a nasal, sarcastic tone.

"Doth everyone not talk the same?" Azoth asked.

"No one says doth!" Luke commented.

"Methinks I might've been born in the wrong time era…" Azoth explained with his head down.

The group travelled with Fern Outpost to their back. Again, they started to approach some woods.

"Is this a mystery dungeon?" Cortez asked.

"No, Scar Plains is on the other side", Omex said.

The pokemon had to push twigs and leaves away as they progressed into the forest.

"What will the guild be like?" Cortez asked. Omex quickly dodged a tree limb.

"You always have a lot of questions", he stated.

"It wouldn't hurt to know what I'm getting into!" Cortez snapped back.

"Well", Omex started. "The way it works, is they provide room and board, as well as the classes and training. Right off the bat, they will assign you into a 'guild team'. It's not a real team, but one for practice."

Cortez turned to look at Luke and Azoth. "Guess it will be me, Azoth and Luke", Cortez stated.

"You wish. They decide who you're with. You don't get to choose. And they do this to train you to get along with other pokemon."

"WHAT?!" Cortez yelled a little too loud. Sensing trouble, Luke quickly approached the front to see what they were talking about.

"What's wrong Cortez?" Luke asked curiously.

"We're not going to be together in the guild!" Cortez yelled, repeating Omex's statement.

"WHAT?!" Luke yelled.

"QUE?!" Azoth yelled in Spanish.

"No! I want to be in the team with Cortez!" Luke complained.

"God guys! It's only until you graduate!" Omex tried to reassure.

"I can't do this Omex. I can't. It was one thing with all the pressure and rules of a guild, _but now I can't even be with Luke?!_ "

"You'll still him at meals and play time, but no, the guilds don't play around."

"I'm not going into the guild!" Cortez declared.

"Then you'll never be a real explorer! If you don't have the strength to put up with guild training, then you won't have the strength to make anything of yourself!" Omex yelled.

Cortez put his head down in thought. This was hard stuff. Being an explorer wasn't all pancakes and syrup as he thought it'd be. He just couldn't get his head around on why he needed to join this damn guild. He was so sure he already knew how to be an explorer.

"Cortez, do you think you could've made it to Scarland City on your own?" Omex asked.

"…No."

"Then what makes you think you'll ever be able to get anywhere beside these simple level one forest dungeons?"

Cortez didn't have an answer.

"And who even taught you to channel your electricity better?" Omex added.

"You."

"Exactly. You wouldn't have made it anywhere if you didn't have someone to teach you. _You're going to the guild, it's final_."

Luke tried to cheer him up. "C'mon Corty. Omex said the guild will be fun…" Luke coaxed. Cortez stayed unresponsive.

"You said they were fun, didn't you Omex?" Luke asked.

"It's very fun! They do friendly challenges, show you the best way to handle certain situations… The list goes on. And the food's great!" Omex said.

"I just don't understand why I can't go with you…" Cortez said to Omex.

"Cortez, I'm going places that would kill you in an instant. And I'm not talking about what I'm doing. You'll just have to live with it."

"Okay", Cortez said, unsatisfied.

"Sometimes sacrifices and hard work must be done for the benefit of others", Azoth announced, trying to get his two cents in.

The group continued to travel through the woods, only taking small breaks here or there to eat an apple. Under Omex's knowledge and guidance, the group had no problem where they were going or what they would encounter. The more Cortez was with Omex, the more he wanted to be like him. Omex seemed to know everything about anything. If Cortez had a question, Omex always had an answer.

It helped Cortez to know that a guild may have contributed to his strengths, and that helped make his mind up to go ahead with the guild anyways. He was concerned that he would never see Luke, but Cortez hoped he would make new friends easily.

What happened with Omex had been chewing on Cortez for a while now. He kept thinking about the nightmare last night, and everything he had explained to him. Cortez so badly wanted to know what happened in that scene of the dream, and what he was going to do when he got to Scarland City that he couldn't know about.

The more Cortez thought about it, the more he realized Omex was just getting to Scarland City for his own agenda. He just happened to have a few kids tag along with him, so he could drop them off in the guild like a daycare, and go on with his wild adventures. Omex was really a mystery to him. An unsolved one, he vowed to one day solve.

"Here we are! Scar Plains", Omex announced to the group. They had all made it through a clearing from the forest, and out into a large, gray, desolate field. At the end of the field was a huge mountain. Cortez saw the tremendous city that rested at the top, in a lot more detail than before. It truly was a marvelous site.

"This dungeon is a tad bit harder than the common forest dungeons. I will guide you through them the best I can, but you all need to do the battling. If something goes wrong, don't worry, I will be there to assist. Are there any questions?" Omex yelled out.

"What kind of pokemon will be in there?" Luke asked.

"You'll see momentarily. Let's move out."


	6. The Bird in the Sky

Cortez, Luke, Azoth, and Omex pushed through the Scar Plains mystery dungeon. The lifeless ground around them had a gray color, with occasional dead shrubbery and trees.

"There he comes again!" Omex cried out, instructing Cortez on his next move.

Cortez was currently in a fight with a sandshrew. It hissed loudly as it swooped in for a sharp scratch. As the sharp claws fell, Cortez did well to dodge the attack, following up with a scratch attack of his own. The weakened sandshrew fell backwards.

"That's key!" Omex yelled. Cortez was out of breath. The sandshrew had really worn him out.

"Why… couldn't I used my electricity on him again?" Cortez asked impatiently.

"It's a ground type", he explained. "Your electric type attacks would do barely more than a tickle. It's best to know what kind of attacks to use against certain types of opponents. Being fluent is special _and_ physical moves is very important."

"I don't know Omes, I think I could've easily shocked him…" Said a doubtful Cortez.

"Be my guest. It's not like I know anything", Omex snapped back sarcastically. He looked to the rest of the group who had been watching the whole time. "Keep moving everyone. Next opponent goes to Luke. Be on your toes!"

The group maneuvered through the harder mystery dungeon. Omex was sure to keep a watchful eye down hallways and rooms.

"I must say Cortez; you've seriously excelled in your learning. You have a real talent", Omex mentioned to Cortez.

"Aw, you're just saying that!" Cortez responded. He really didn't care for the flattery.

"Just know your limits. I'd hate to see you be overconfident and tackle something far beyond your league."

Up ahead a raticate locked eyes upon the group. It was fast and nimble as it approached them.

"Luke!" Omex bellowed out. It took less than 2 seconds for the houndour to jump in front of everyone in a fighting stance.

"Now, about this one…" Omex started feeding him info right into his ear.

"Back off Omex! I have this one in the bag! No sweat!" Luke fiercely interrupted. Upon doing so, Omex calmly let up to see where his cockiness would take him.

As Luke always had done, he let out a ferocious roar of fire. The raticate instantly dodged the flames and took a bite into Luke. This surely took him by surprise, as he let out a panicked yelp.

"Omex! Please help me!" He cried out as he rapidly clawed at the gnawing rat.

"Oh I'm sorry, you said you had this!" Omex retorted, treating the dangerous situation light heartedly.

The raticate wasn't letting up. Despite Luke's best efforts, he couldn't shake it.

"Omex, you need to help!" Cortez finally announced, realizing the situation before him.

Omex let out a sigh. With both wings extended, he blasted the raticate with a force of a psybeam, hurling it backwards.

The raticate slammed up against the wall, but quickly recovered. It was not done, but neither was Omex. Before the raticate could think about its next move, Omex lurched with several swift punches, knocking it out.

Once Omex was satisfied with staring at the fainted raticate, he had turned around to see Luke licking his wounds.

"That was awesome", Cortez mentioned, never getting tired of Omex's fighting styles.

"Are you going to listen to me next time Luke?" Omex asked. Luke nodded his head affirmatively.

"Okay then…"

They travelled several more floors, with Omex rushing them to move on quicker. It wasn't long before they came upon their first rare item.

Cortez cautiously approached a purple cloth fragment. Omex calmly walked behind him, looking for any ferals, unlike Cortez.

"What is it?" He asked while picking it up in his little black hands.

"A pecha scarf", Omex stated. "Wearing it will grant you immunity from poison. It's certainly a nice item to wear."

"Woah", Cortez eyes twinkled at the item. It was the first real piece of treasure he found, aside from some usual apples, oran berries, and coins he found lying around. "Can I have it?" Cortez asked.

"I don't see why not", Omex said back.

"What about me?!" Luke demanded, wanting a cut of the action.

"Your time will come Luke", Omex assured.

Cortez didn't wait a second longer to tie in on himself. "How do I look?" He asked, grinning with all teeth showing.

Everyone kinda stared at him.

"Like an explorer! Huzzah!" Azoth finally cried out.

"You can choose to sell it for a decent coin", Omex reminded him. "But, I wouldn't do it until you have far more items than you'd ever wear…"

"Oh, I'm not selling it", Cortez assured. He was already growing sentimental to it.

Their happiness was interrupted however – another sandshrew could be seen down a hallway.

"Do you have this?" Omex asked Cortez.

"I shouldn't have a problem", he responded.

"Do you want to try shocking it like you wanted?" Omex said.

"I'll take your word that electricity won't hurt it", Cortez said back, remembering what happened to Luke when he didn't listen.

Cortez braced himself. With Omex behind him, he had absolutely nothing to fear.

The sandshrew stood his distance, and kicked mud all over Cortez. It forcefully hit his body, like smacking hard into water from a high drop. It caught him off guard.

"Are you good?" Omex asked cautiously. He was ready to intervene if needed.

Cortez didn't respond. After recovering his balance, he lurched at the sandshrew, swiping away at his body. Within several critical scratches, the sandshrew had enough.

Cortez panted hard to recover his health.

"Yeah, I'm good", he finally said, once the fighting was over.

The more they travel through Scar Plains, the more apparent and bigger the mountain became.

"A few more floors and we'll be at the base of the mountain", Omex mentioned, noticing Cortez gazing upon it.

"It's huge…" Cortez said in awe.

Several floors went by. Occasionally Omex would decide to have Azoth try his hand at combat, but almost never ended well for him. He decided to leave it up to the guild to teach him. The more ferals Luke and Cortez fought, the more well-rounded they became in their moves. Omex was in awe at how much better Cortez's attacks were becoming. It almost concerned him.

Finally, they made it to the base of the mountain. Huge gusts of wind accompanied. A noticeable barrier of wind could be seen that wrapped around the mountain.

"I've never seen it so windy before", Omex said quietly to himself. He turned to look at his followers, who all stood behind him. Everyone was intimidated by the mountain. Omex began his usual speech the accompanied the start of a new dungeon.

"Okay everyone", he started. "This is thee Scar Mountain dungeon. Everyone expect a degree of difficulty here. The floors of this dungeon actually wrap around the mountain in an upward spiral, so it is very important that _you don't fall off_. I'm very concerned about this wind. So we will all take extreme caution in traversing the mountain. Of course, I will be there to assist you all, but I'm not holding anyone's hand." Omex ended it off with his signature "Are there any questions?"

The wind furiously howled. Omex grabbed a hold of his hood with one wing.

"Yeah, one question! Are we gonna die?!" Luke shouted.

"No questions then. Let's go", Omex responded, ignoring Luke's obnoxious attempt at humor.

The unforgiving mountain must've stood a mile high. Large, spiked rocks extruded from the mountain in every direction. The top of the mountain was flattened out, where a large stone wall guarded the towers inside. Cortez realized it was soon that they'd be at the city.

The enemies proved to be harder. They came across pidgeottos, geodudes, nidorans, and lillipups. All had a much higher tolerance to the moves the group dished out, except Omex. He seemed to destroy them just as fast as the weaker pokemon they encountered.

"I've never seen so many ferals in rapid succession in a such long time. Look out!" Omex warned Luke of the swooping pidgeotto. It dove down to claw him, but Luke did a roll, blazing the backside of the bird as it flew around. As it came around for another attack, Cortez stepped in with a hard thunderbolt that sent it out of the air.

"Holy shit", Omex mentioned to himself. "There's no way Scar Mountain was always this hard… or was it?" A huge hurl of wind blasted the group. Cortez lost his balance and fell over. "Perhaps it's to do with this wind…"

"Careful Cortez!" Luke yelled.

"Guys, we need to keep moving!" Omex announced. He was getting an uneasy feeling about being here for too long.

Omex was right. As they slowly but surely progressed the floors of the dungeon, Cortez could occasionally see the edge of the mountain that was getting higher and higher off the ground. He gulped as he realized he could've had a fear of heights.

To speed things up, Omex started taking care of more and more of the ferals they came across. While he found it important to train the others who needed it, he was sensing danger on the mountain he hadn't sensed before. As ferals ran up he would simply extend a wing and blast them with a psychic move.

"Hey Omex I thought _we_ were training here!" Luke cried out.

"I know, but I want to get up this mountain ASAP! Would it kill you to let me get some attacks in?!"

Luke didn't respond. The wind was getting rougher. Debris of the mountain got shifted around as well. Pebbles and small stones got kicked off by the wind from above, raining down upon them like hail.

"As if this wasn't bad enough", Cortez heard Omex mumble. "Now it's raining rocks…"

A gust of wind carried several sharp rocks with it. Omex threw his cloak up which reflected most of them.

The trails were getting steep. Wind blasted down upon them, making it all the harder to progress. Geodudes would also rain from above, taking advantage of the wind to get closer to the group to land an attack.

Omex intervened one with a Psycho Cut before it could slam into Cortez. He didn't even notice the geodudes until Omex had them fainted.

"Omex, this place is so difficult! You said it wouldn't be this bad!" Cortez shouted out.

"I know what I said damn it!" Omex yelled back, his voice carrying down the slope.

Suddenly, the group was enveloped into a massive shadow. Upon looking up to where the sun would normally be, a huge silhouette of a bird pokemon drew upon them. It was massive, and it sent chills down Cortez's back. With a massive and impactful landing, a huge pidgeot stood in front of them.

"Mother of God…" Cortez mentioned.

"TAKE COVER!" Omex shouted out.

The pidgeot must've been two or three times the normal size a normal one should be. It let out an excruciatingly loud howl. Luke, Cortez and Azoth took shelter behind a rock. Cortez knew the responsibility of defending the group laid on Omex.

Omex gave the pidgeot a fighting stance haphazardly. With a quick and powerful gust of wind from the pidgeot's wings, Omex flew backwards, tumbling down several feet. The pidgeot gave another ear-deafening cry, taunting Omex to actually fight it.

Omex made a quick recovery. His eyes glared purple, and he stuck a wing out. With a forceful grunt, a large pink beam of energy escaped his wing, pushing against the pidgeot. It barely budged backwards.

In response, the pidgeot took to the air again, and started to claw Omex with its powerful talons. Every time the talons made an attack, Omex used his wings to block it. Sounds of the xatu's wings getting cut up could be heard. Cortez watched the fight from a distance, peeking his head up to see the epic fight.

Omex's blocks grew weaker. The pidgeot landed back to the ground. Its feral eyes locked into Omex's. He knew this pidgeot was not going to quit unless it was killed. Blood dripped from Omex's wings.

"Let's see how you like this", Omex said to himself in a weakened voice. His shaky wings extended again, but a large blast of unexpected ice shot out. Large icicles stabbed the pidgeot all over. It let out another loud cry, this time more in pain. The ferocity of the cry had Cortez's ears ringing. Cortez looked down to Luke and Azoth, who were indeed scared beyond their wits, cuddling each other.

Cortez was growing extremely concerned for Omex. He certainly had his work cut out for him.

When the pidgeot realized the xatu had a few nasty attacks of his own, his eyes darted around. The pidgeot's eyes locked with Cortez's, who was peering over the rock for too long. Omex quickly noticed this.

The pidgeot took flight again, swooping to the rock the three were hiding by.

"NO!" Omex cried out, sprinting to the newly acquired destination. He could not live with himself if he got the three young pokemon killed. The pidgeot landed on top of the rock they were hiding behind.

Luke and Azoth cried out for their lives. The bird let out another screech that nearly burst their eardrums.

Almost acting on instinct, Cortez blasted a thunderbolt at the pidgeot. The sparks danced around the massive bird's body. It launched itself into the air.

"Look out!" Omex yelled from behind. The pidgeot released a powerful gust of air that shot Cortez off the side of the mountain.

Cortez was shot off the side of the mountain.

He was free falling in the air.

"Fuck!" Omex exclaimed, jumping off the side of the mountain as well.

Cortez was facing the ground that was far below him. His short life flashed before his eyes. His heart started aching tremendously. His vision was going blurry. He felt light headed. Before Cortez got anywhere close to the ground, he blacked out.

Omex tucked his wings against his body, catching up to Cortez. A xatu's feet aren't talon-based, meaning he couldn't grab Cortez and fly back up. He could either catch Cortez and not be able to fly, or fly himself to safety.

Not both.

He was certainly in a terrible predicament.

Many ideas bounced in Omex's head. Many weren't very good.

He caught up to Cortez, and grabbed his limp, lizard like body. Both his torn wings wrapped around the small pokemon.

He was growing closer to the ground.

Closer.

The xatu's eyes darted rapidly in a small motion, almost physically reading the options that came to his mind.

Nothing good was coming up.

Only one thought. He knew by sheltering his body around Cortez, the helioptile would live. Omex himself living though was questionable. He thought to have a 30 percent chance of survival, and that's with landing the right way with injuries.

The ground was growing closer.

"So this is where it ends", Omex mentioned to himself. He stared at the impending doom, and began to close his eyes.

His death was finally here.

5000 feet. 4000 feet. 3000 feet…

Wait a second!

Omex's eyes darted open. He rummaged in his traveler bag, which was ten times harder to do while holding onto a pokemon and free falling.

His heart raced as he had literal seconds to pull off this plan. He felt a seed, pulled it out.

It was a pure seed. The only type of seed that could warp a user to the stairs. It was all good until he realized two were needed to get them both out.

He fumbled in Cortez's bag until he found the pure seed he bought for him. He quickly shoved it into the unconscious helioptile's mouth.

Using extremely quick reactions, right before he hit the ground, he slammed the seed onto the ground _and_ slammed Cortez's jaw upwards. Forcing the seed to break open in his mouth.

The two teleported instantly to a flight of stairs.

Omex quickly regained his perception. He stood up, seeing a set of stairs feet in front of them. He left Cortez laying there, as he had absolutely no time to celebrate his escape from death.

A pidgeot could be heard screeching in the distance.

Omex sprinted down hallways, forcibly using psychic to faint any ferals that passed him. He started prepping himself by muttering long and complicated nasty plot incantations to put a real edge on his psychic power.

When he got back to the site, the huge pidgeot was clawing at the rock Luke and Azoth were hiding behind. Omex started charging up his most powerful psychic move he knew. He had only used it once before, and now he was going to use it again.

His eyes had purple fire pouring out of them. The outlines on his body glowed purple. The charging of the move alone was putting so much strain on his mental being.

Finally, he was ready.

"PIDGEOT!" Omex roared in a powerful voice that was not his own.

The bird turned around. It made a sudden advance on Omex.

" _May Arceus damn your soul to the pits of the distortion world!_ "

As soon as the pidgeot came in for an attack, Omex unleashed a bright and devastating Psycho Boost. The mystic energy was hurled from his body, exploding upon the bird.

It sent the pidgeot blasting backwards. It rendered it unconscious as it flew out of the air motionless, down over the cliff. Within moments, a massive thud could be heard.

Mentally and physically exhausted, Omex dropped backwards, lying on the ground. It was a fight like no other. A fight that hadn't exhausted him like that in years.

Only one thought went through his mind.

 _What the hell was it doing here?_

Luke and Azoth quickly rushed to Omex.

"Omex! Oh god Omex! Are you okay!? Holy shit, you're bleeding! Everywhere! Where's Cortez?!"

Omex's eyes darted open. He forgot he left Cortez alone in a dungeon. He stood up quickly.

"Let's move!" He commanded weakly.

Omex, Luke and Azoth found Cortez where he left him. He was still laying there unconscious.

"Oh my god he's dead!" Luke cried out. He burst with tears.

Omex ignored Luke. He approached Cortez and started shaking him.

"Cortez?! Corty?!" Omex put his head against Cortez's body. He could hear a heartbeat. Thankfully.

"Corty!" Omex shouted louder, with a little more vigor in his shake.

Cortez started to open his eyes. Upon coming to realization, his body quaked in fear.

"What happened?!" He yelled. "Wasn't I falling?!"

"You were. And now you're not." Omex thought his phrase sounded a little funny coming out, but he didn't care.

"The pidgeot?!" Cortez added.

"I took care of him…"

Cortez looked down and saw Omex's wings were sliced up badly. Blood ran down them. He didn't seem to care, however.

"We're almost at the top of the mountain. We need to finish", Omex declared.

As they finalized the last few floors of the mountain, Omex filled everyone in on his epic plan that saved Cortez and himself. Cortez couldn't believe Omex was about to risk his own life for the safety of his. Luke feverishly told his side of the story.

"I couldn't believe it! That gust just launched Cortez right off the side of the mountain! And upon seeing that, Omex, you jumped right off with him! I was so impressed with your heroism, until I realized you left that damn bird with me and Azzie!"

"Twas a frightening experience!" Azoth mentioned. "Luke and I had our bodies pressed so far against the rock, the old bastard couldn't reach his beak in to get us!"

"He never gave up though! Just kept trying to reach us! Beak, talon, beak, talon… Just tried one after the other!" Luke added.

"Until Mr. Omex displayed that smashing move! It rivalled a fireworks show in terms of beauty! What was that move if you don't mind me asking…?" Azoth said.

"Psycho Boost. I don't recommend trying it."

Cortez had heard of that move. It was fabled only legendary pokemon could use it. He had a hard time believing Omex actually used it, but he had surprised him before.

Cortez wondered why the hell such a strong pokemon was doing in such a weak dungeon.

"Omex, why was that pidgeot there in the first place?" Cortez asked.

"I've been wondering the same thing. I have never seen such a bizarre event in my life, besides running into a monster house long ago. I can't wrap my head around it. It breaks the rules of reality. A strong pokemon simply cannot spawn in such a weak dungeon. My only idea is that someone summoned it there, but I couldn't imagine anyone doing that", Omex replied.

"Someone could have summoned it?!" Luke asked feverishly. "Is someone after you?!"

It certainly had Cortez wondering if someone was hunting him down for his 'past mistakes'.

"No…" Omex said uneasily. "…no, no one could be after me", he added, sounding more sure. He had to quickly analyze that thought. "I don't have any problems with anyone."

Suddenly they came across the last set of stairs. It was the last in the Scar Mountain dungeon. Everyone was so relieved to be out. In front of them now was the glorious gates of Scarland City. Noise pollution exuded from behind the walls, emphasizing how busy and popular it was inside.

"Everyone stay together. No one gets lost." Omex mentioned.

The evening sun shone brightly on the stone towers. It was quite impressive in Cortez's eyes. It was a city unlike he had ever seen. Upon entering the city walls, pokemon were moving around everywhere. Markets were set up on the sides of the streets, pokemon in high up buildings were yelling and throwing things down onto the ground below. As they became lost in the city, only one thing was clear – follow Omex. He navigated between people. It was quite chaotic.

"Hey!" A lombre exclaimed, trying to get Cortez's attention. "By two get one free! Special cheri berry beads!" He had nearly stopped dead in Cortez's tracks. He shuffled off when Omex gave him a firm "back off!"

"Be aggressive Cortez", Omex said to him. "Pokemon everywhere will try to sell you things. Just be firm and they'll leave you alone."

As they wove in between large buildings, one thing became apparent. At the end of the city was a huge stone building built larger, and more elegant than the rest.

"What's that building?" Cortez asked, pointed at the large establishment.

"That my friend, is the Expedition Society Hall. It's where the guild is located, as well as a hub for explorers", Omex explained.

"Wow…" Cortez was marveled at the sight. Several pokemon were carved at the top of the building, emphasizing its importance.

"Over here!" Omex exclaimed to everyone, taking a side road. Soon they all approached a small shack, that seemed like it didn't belong in the bustling city.

"It's… Bergis's house. I hope it still is anyways", Omex said, not knowing if he was talking to everyone or himself. He gulped.

Omex gave a firm knock on the door.

He was anxious to see who could be in the house. His anxiety was relieved when he heard a raunchy voice exclaim "Who the fuck could that be?!"

An old, beat up shiftry swung open the door. His white hair was thin and wispy, that ran down a bad hunch. His eyes were strained and amber colored, easily indicating his age. He stared at the group with a hostile, rough face for a few seconds, before he focused on the xatu.

His looks let up a bit, in trade for surprise and joy.

"…Omex? My god, is that you?" The shiftry said in a hard, gravelly voice.

"Hey Bergis… mind if we come in?" Omex said back lowly.

The shiftry's eyes darted upon everyone else. Cortez felt much hostility and fear when his eyes locked on him. He took his time to look them over.

"Yeah", Bergis finally said. "Get in quick!"

Cortez followed Omex into an extremely messy shack that had papers scattered everywhere. Garbage cluttered shelves, random household items lined the floors, couch, and other furniture. The shack was very dusty; the air was unfiltered.

"Find a seat!" The old shiftry announced. "If you can't, make one!"

Omex took a seat on an old wooden chair. Luke jumped on top of a bunch of garbage on a sofa. It reminded him of Omex's old house.

Cortez tossed some apple cores and dirty papers off a chair to sit. Azoth was content with the floor.

Bergis plopped in a rolling chair, the only furniture that looked clean.

Everyone sat in silence for a bit.

"So, Omex. You look like shit", Bergis announced, eyeing his torn up wings.

"Yeah, well, this place isn't looking like it did 10 years ago", Omex said back.

"When your life fell into dismay, this place did as well. You were the only that gave a shit about things being organized. What the hell happened there?" Bergis said, pointing at his wings.

"You'll never believe it. A pidgeot the size of a salamence attack us on Scar Mountain."

Bergis's eyes widened. "You encountered that beast?! Holy shit, how did that go?!"

"Like I almost died! What do you know about it?" Omex replied.

"Everyone knows about it. That bird shows up outta nowhere! Terrorized anyone trying to go up or down the mountain. No one dared leave or enter the city for months! How the hell did you get away from it?" Bergis grumbled on, interested to hear what Omex had to say.

"I killed the damn thing!" Omex announced.

"Bullshit!"

"I swear to Arceus! Ask any of them", Omex replied, pointing to Cortez, Luke, and Azoth.

Bergis looked to the three, obviously waiting for some information.

"He sure as hell did!" Luke let out. "Battled that thing for half an hour at least! Used every move in the book on it, it wouldn't let up! Omex finally kicked his ass with Psycho Boost! He blasted it out of the sky!"

"…yeah", Cortez added, giving his approval to the story. Bergis looked everyone over for a bit before returning to Omex.

"Ain't that just you Omex, never taking shit from anyone. Even a pidgeot far stronger than anyone else", Bergis mentioned.

"Damn right! He nearly killed me and these pokemon! I wasn't going to let it live. It was either him or me!" Omex yelled out, sounding more proud than ever before.

Bergis started coughing and wheezing hard for several moments. Everyone looked concerned for him, except Omex. He calmly stared at Bergis as he did it, almost expecting it.

Cortez suddenly had a strike of fear, as he realized that was the same coughing and wheezing he heard in Omex's dream.

"So let's get down to business", Bergis started after he was done hacking. "What are you doing here and what do you want?"

"Well, number one, we were wondering if we could stay the night", Omex said.

Bergis looked out his window and saw how dark it was getting.

"Done. One night only", he said back.

"And two. I need to talk to you privately", Omex added suspiciously.

"Fine. Everyone, go upstairs. There are several beds laid out, just clear them off if they have crap on them!" Bergis announced. Everyone kinda stared at him wondering if he was serious.

"Now please!" He exclaimed. Cortez, Luke, and Azoth quickly got up in shock and filed their way up some creaky stairs to the side of the wall.

When Cortez got to the top of the stairs, the room was dustier than below. The ceiling folded up to the top in the shape of the roof outside. The air was almost unbearable. Luke let out a cough. Against the side of the wall were 3 beds lined up, each having tons of books on them. Up against the other side of the wall were filing cabinets, bookshelves, and stacks of papers scattered around.

At the end of the room was a window. Cortez quickly approached it and forced it open. Fresh air from the outside filled the stagnant attic air, letting everyone breathe a sigh of relief.

"This place could use a cleaning!" Luke exclaimed. He kicked books onto the floor and jumped onto the middle bed.

"Precisely", Azoth mentioned as well. He was having a hard time pushing the books and papers off his bed. "A little help?"

Cortez cleared Azoth's bed after clearing his own. He sat on his bed, but couldn't lay down. He wanted so badly to hear what Omex was talking to Bergis about. As everyone relaxed, it wasn't more than ten minutes before yelling could be heard downstairs.

Cortez tried his hardest to make out what they were saying. Bergis's choked voice could be heard yelling fast and feverishly, as well as Omex. As things began to escalate, Cortez started sneaking to the side of the stairs to get a better hearing.

It was muffled, but things could be made out.

"That's not going to work!" Bergis yelled.

"It will! And it's the only way to get this over with!" Omex retorted.

"That's _highly_ illegal! You think…" The voice went muffled. "That's outrageous!" Bergis started hacking again.

"Are you in or out Bergis?!" Omex demanded.

"You're out of your fucking mind Omex! Just as usual! Look at what happens every time you get the psycho ideas!" It got muffled again. "How did it work out for you?!"

"Fucking great!" Omex yelled louder than ever. "I've had it up to here with the whole damn thing! How would you feel?!"

"How would I feel? Could you ever picture me doing that Omex?! Ever?! What happened on that night with…" Cortez swore it kept getting confusing to hear at the best parts.

"…And now you think this is going to solve everything?! Go back to the way it was?"

"The way it _should've happened!_ "

The conversation rose up and down in tone, so very little of it could be made out.

"Arno was like a brother to me!"

"Arno was like a brother to all of us, Omex! He didn't deserve it, I get it. But you can't change that!"

More senseless yelling.

"Fucking hell, Bergis! It wouldn't have even happened if I hadn't done that! Do you remember? Whose side are you on?!"

Crack!

Cortez leaned too far on the stair. It gave out a loud and interrupting creak.

The conversation stopped completely.

"CORTEZ!" Omex bellowed out, automatically knowing it was him. "Get down here!"

As scared as he was, he slowly traversed down. Omex and Bergis were both standing up, facing each other.

"Cortez, you better not tell me you were fucking listening to our conversation!" Omex cried out.

Cortez didn't say a word.

"Answer me!" He cried out again.

Cortez simply gulped.

Omex suddenly threw his wing out and nailed Cortez against the wall with his psychic powers. He felt the weight of a hundred geodudes push up against his body. The pressure was immense. Cortez grunted to catch a breath of air.

"What did you hear?!" Omex pleaded in anger.

As much as Cortez now wanted to shout out "nothing", he couldn't talk from the pain of the psychic force against him.

"Omex, let him down!" Bergis yelled.

"Fuck off Bergis!" Omex said back, forcing his virtual grip tighter on Cortez.

Bergis gave Omex a hard push, releasing Cortez from the grip. He fell over wheezing for his breath.

Bergis looked at Cortez. "You've made a terrible mistake."

Omex got up, completely ignoring Bergis's shove.

"What did you hear?" Omex asked again.

"Nothing, I swear!" Cortez yelled out.

"Don't lie to me! You were hanging off the side of the stairs listening!"

"I couldn't hear anything! It was too quiet!" Cortez pleaded, in complete fear and aguish.

"Get the fuck to bed!" Omex demanded, yelling in a powerful, psychic amplified voice.

The helioptile ran for his life up the stairs like the day he ran from the machop in his first mystery dungeon.

He sprinted up into the dark attic, jumping into his bed, and planting his face into his pillow.

Cortez started sobbing into his pillow. He was in fear, panic, regret, and hatred. He could almost feel the pain Omex was in. Something was consuming him.

Something.


	7. Orientation

Inside the attic of a house, there contained three beds. In the beds a helioptile, a houndour, and a shelmet occupied.

A xatu was going through old files on the opposite wall of the beds. He sat in a rolling chair, leafing through piles of paper.

Cortez opened his eyes. His first sight was the roof he had been staring up at, but that quickly changed when he heard the rummaging of documents.

He leaned his head up to see Omex reading.

Upon hearing the movement of a pokemon, Omex quickly turned his head. The xatu's eyes fell on Cortez, who was now standing up beside the bed.

"Good morning Cortez." The xatu said. Cortez realized he sounded extremely tired. He had a good idea that Omex was up all night.

Cortez didn't respond. He stared at Omex sleepily, with the memories of getting slammed up against the wall reminding him of last night.

Omex understood Cortez was upset with him. The xatu faced the ground, trying to figure out what to say.

"Look, uh… about last night." Omex scratched the back of his head, uneasily saying his words. "I apologize for my behavior. I didn't mean to hurt you…"

Omex waited for something better to come out his mouth, but nothing did. Cortez kept giving him a look of guilt.

"Were you honest about not hearing anything?" Omex finally said, even now still concerned his secrets got loose.

"I heard some stuff." Cortez mentioned. "I heard about Arno." Cortez did indeed hear about Arno, but couldn't make out what happened with him. He wanted to see if telling Omex that name would make him think he heard more than he really did.

Cortez was hoping if Omex thought he knew, he would open up, unknowingly feeding him new information.

"What did you hear about Arno?" Omex responded. He was making it clear he wouldn't volunteer any information until he had verbal confirmation.

"That he was you and Bergis's best friend. And he _didn't deserve what he got._ " It was another jab at trying to get Omex to spill. Unfortunately, because Cortez was being indirect, it showed Omex he really didn't know, he had only heard fragments. He saw through it.

"That's all you heard, wasn't it?" Omex breathed.

"More or less."

Cortez was interested on what Omex had been doing on that table sifting through papers.

"What are these files?" Cortez asked, now changing the subject.

"Come see."

Cortez approached the table. Things had been moved around a great deal. Everything looked far more organized than last night.

"My team, Team Madcrack kept detailed documentation on all our expeditions. I've just been organizing everything. It had really fallen into dismay", Omex explained. He caught Cortez eyeing a certain paper.

"Here", Omex said. He picked up a paper with writing on it. "This was on an expedition we did retrieving a cubone's quick claw he lost." He handed it to Cortez, who looked it over.

Cortez studied it. The date went back some 15 years ago. A cubone named Fergo. A quick claw lost in Thornbush Fields, 7F. Scribbled handwriting contained details and opinions on the job, and how they solved it.

"Bergis was the one who wrote these up, I put them away in an organized fashion. We had a system."

"Were you required to document these?" Cortez asked, pretty impressed.

"Nope. We did it for the sake of having a detailed history we could look back at any time. And we recorded every one", Omex said, running his wing down the filing cabinets.

This got Cortez to thinking. If every expedition was recorded, the dungeon in Omex's dream must've been recorded as well. And he had a feeling that could've been one of Madcrack's last expeditions, so it shouldn't be too hard to find.

"That's pretty responsible…" Cortez admitted, handing him back the file. "Why were you organizing it?"

"Oh, well I was just grabbing some files for reference. I thought I might as well get things straightened out as I looked for them. Bergis has a terrible time keeping things clean."

Omex's eyes trailed off to the open window in the attic. A fresh, new sunlight shown in, casting its warm rays on the floor.

"Are you ready for the guild?" Omex asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"You know it was my guild as well? Years ago I had joined when a golduck was the guildmaster. It will be the first time I've been in there in so long."

"Is the golduck still the master?" Cortez asked.

"I doubt it. He was already really old when I got there."

Luke started moving on the bed. He stretched and shifted around before slowly opening his eyes. Cortez and Omex stared at him in silence as he woke up.

Luke looked over at them and blinked hard, trying to focus. "Hey!" He yelled. "What are you guys doing?" Luke hated missing out on things.

"Ready for your first day at the guild?" Omex asked the same question.

"Am I ever!" At Luke's shout, Azoth rolled over. Everyone was starting to wake up.

"We should get there early. You might be able to get an early tour before the other guild members would be up", Omex mentioned.

"Then let's not waste any time!" Luke announced loudly. He jumped on Azoth's bed and began pouncing him. "Geeetttt uuuuppp!" He chanted out as he stomped around.

Omex chuckled at the sight of Azoth getting thrown around half awake, as well as the choice words he had to say.

"Yeah, let's get a move on", Omex finally decided.

Everyone was awake. They grabbed their explorer bags, made the beds, and filed down the stairs. Bergis could be seen downstairs on the couch watching TV.

"Leaving already?" Bergis groggily let out.

"Yes, we're getting a head start to the guild", Omex stated.

"More like a head start on _your_ plans!" Bergis yelled back. Omex ignored him. He opened the front door and allowed everyone to leave before him. As Cortez began walking out the door, Bergis stopped him.

"Hey!" He said. "Good luck out there, kid. If ever need any questions or advice, feel free to visit me sometime." It was the warmest thing Cortez had heard Bergis say yet. As grouchy and mean as he sounded, Cortez felt he might've been lonely as well.

"Thanks, Bergis. I will", Cortez replied.

The pokemon filed their way out. When the three were outside, Omex said "Just a sec." and he closed the door on them

It was obvious Omex had a few more words to say to Bergis before leaving. It wasn't long however, as he kept them waiting for less than a minute.

"Alright gentlemen! Let's roll."

Scarland City wasn't as loud or obnoxious as it had been when they first got there. It was early in the morning, and a few pokemon could be seen slowly walking up and down the streets. Some shopkeepers could be seen setting up their kiosks. The group made it down several streets, along with a few turns. Cortez thought he would have a hard time navigating the place by himself in the future.

Eventually they arrived at the Expedition Society Hall. The place was far more abandoned and quiet than last time. The elegant building casted a detailed shadow on the ground below them. A few pokemon held conversations around the building, but not in the crowds before. Omex was the first to approach the building. He swung open a massive wooden door that was held together by metal sheets. As they entered the main hall of the building, Cortez was more floored than ever.

The roof was several stories high, with a large glass plate holding the top together. Light shown down into the massive hall, that was barely lit. Groups of pokemon dotted the halls, talking amongst themselves.

They were expedition teams. It was obvious. Most of the groups were in threes, held tightly together through conversation. The floor was tiled in marble, not a single smudge anywhere. It looked to have been cleaned the night before. Ahead, at the end of the hall, were two ridiculously large pegboards. Each hung on their own side of the hall, with many, many colored papers hanging off in every direction. Several pokemon were gathered around these pegboards, studying the papers. In the center of the two boards was a leafeon behind a large desk. She hadn't looked up once as Cortez and his friends had entered. She was focused on something in front of her.

After standing around admiring the place, Omex approached the front desk. Everyone followed behind him. As they approached, the leafeon looked up from its paperwork.

"Hi there", Omex said cordially. He leaned up on the desk. "I have some young pokemon here that are fixin' to be explorers." He pointed at Cortez, Luke and Azoth. "They're going to be joining the guild", he explained.

"Oh", the leafeon replied. "Are they registered for the new set of guild members?" Her voice was firm.

"No ma'am. I'm simply dropping them off. They're very enthusiastic, and ready to learn!" He added.

The leafeon was disappointed. "I'm sorry mister. But if they hadn't been registered a month ago, we are not prepared to add them. If you register now, however, we can get them in next month."

Omex's grip tightened. He looked over to the side, waiting for something to come to mind.

"Look, I'm sorry. I didn't know all this registration had to be done. See, we've come all the way from Heroca Town. It's been a long walk, and they have to be admitted today. Can you understand my situation?" Omex asked.

The leafeon was starting to become flustered. "We simply can't bend the rules for you. I understand they are ready to join now, but we have a long process of adding them to our system, and it doesn't happen overnight. We aren't ready to add them into the guild currently. Only the ones who've already signed up."

Omex was losing his patience. "Is Cardron still here? I'd like to talk to him", he tried.

"Cardron? The old guildmaster who was a golduck?" She responded. The phrase alone answered his question. His old guildmaster was gone. And that meant anyone who still knew him would be gone as well.

"Yes… him. We were good friends. I went to this guild years ago. And I don't think an alumnus should be treated this way. This is an expedition society by the way. Since when are things 'registered' now? Anyone who wanted to join just could! What happened?"

"What happened was the guild grew too much! Cardron couldn't keep up with the flow of new pokemon joining, but he refused to use a registration system. He's gone now, and this is how it's runs these days."

Suddenly a humongous beartic entered the room from a side hall. He had heard all the yelling and wanted to know what was going on. He was at least double the size of Omex.

"What's going on Demeter?" The beartic calmly said.

"Oh! Guildmaster! These pokemon here were trying to get admittance to the guild without the proper paperwork done!"

The beartic ignored half of what she said. As soon he eyed the xatu, his eyes widened greatly.

"Omex?!" The beartic roared. This caught Omex off guard. He stumbled, looking up at the huge beartic.

"Yes?" He said. "Do I know you?"

"It's me! Hephaestus!" He cried out, pointing to himself like a child. Omex stared at him for a second is confusion. Within five seconds however, his face exploded.

"Oh my God, Heph?!" Omex shouted in surprise.

"Yeah! It's me!" The beartic roared back.

"Holy shit, you're huge!"

"Yeah, I kinda hit a growth spurt during my evolution!"

"You look great! Man, it's been years! You were that little cubchoo no one gave a shit about!"

"That's it! What in the world are you doing here?! I thought you retired from Madcrack and moved on!"

"I did! But I have things going on again. So, have you been here this whole time?" Omex asked.

"Yessir! I'm now the guildmaster of Scarland! I worked closely with Cardron, and he appointed me when he retired."

"That's incredible!" Omex responded. "Man, I've missed Cardron. How is he by the way?"

The beartic looked down. "He… sadly passed away recently. Everyone who remembered him mourned his death."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Omex breathed.

The leafeon was in total shock. She was gawking at the fact this rude xatu was all buddy-buddy with the guildmaster.

"So what are you doing here today, Omex?" The beartic asked.

"Well Heph, I have some fresh explorers here ready to join the guild. They're young, but full of enthusiasm. I understand I hadn't registered them, but they need to join today, I have things to…"

Hephaestus waived his hand, interrupting him.

"Ah, say no more. They can join today! Anything for an old friend!" He declared.

"B-but sir!" The leafeon stammered. "W-we have a process! They need to be registered properly or…"

"You'll add them, Demeter. And they'll join today's class, is that understood?" Heph stated.

"But, there's so much – "

"IS THAT UNDERSTOOD!?" He bellowed forcefully.

"Yes, yes, of course guildmaster…" She said while blushing.

"Excellent! I knew I could count on you, sweetie!" He finalized, returning to a hardy voice.

He turned his attention to the group. "So, who do we have here?" Heph let out.

"I'm Cortez."

"Luke!"

"Azoth."

"Great to meetcha! We have a great program here, Demeter's really helpful with all that." He said. "Let me give you all the grand tour of the place. The new explorer class technically started yesterday, and they all had a tour. Let me fill you all in briefly." As they started to follow the guildmaster, he turned around.

"Demeter, they'll take the York Hall, okay?" He asked. Demeter ruffled through her papers quickly. "Yes sir", she responded.

The guildmaster guided the four down the hallway.

"Man, this brings back SO many memories!" Omex exclaimed. Cortez noticed he was acting happier than ever. He pointed in several spots of the hall, telling funny stories of what exactly happened there. Heph gave out several ferocious laughs at his stories.

"I remember that!" He cried out. "Mrs. Goldwinn nearly killed us! She thought the whole guild was going up in flames!" His laugh echoed down the hallway. They were having so much fun exchanging stories, he nearly missed a few things to talk about.

"Oh!" He said, trying to get his mind to focus. "That hall goes to the mess room," Heph stated. "Dinner is 6 sharp _every_ night, breakfast is 8 every morning, okay?" He finished, looking at them to see if they were paying attention.

"Didn't it use to be 5 sharp for dinner?" Omex asked.

"Yes, when Cardron ran the place. But I'm in charge now, and I think that's a better time!"

Cortez was truly impressed that Hephaestus used to be a simple guild member, and now he had the power to change anything at a whim.

"There's been several policies I've changed since I became in charge", he explained.

"Stress test day?" Omex mentioned.

"Gone. Everyone hated it. And personally I think we could all live without it. Besides, it was so humiliating. Do you remember me that day?"

"Yes!" Omex snapped back. "You couldn't even hit the dummy! Everyone laughed their asses off at you!"

"Yeah. That. I abolished it. I was always a physical attacker anyways. You can still freely use it if you want, but it's no longer a requirement. What's worse was Cardron made everyone watch. The nerve. I don't know how that ever applied to a real life lesson."

"Yeah, he certainly had some unorthodox teachings!"

The guildmaster guided them down several hallways. "We still have the four halls", he mentioned. "Female and male pokemon are divided up. Senior females get New Hall", he said while pointing down a hallway. It was lined with doors with numbers over them.

"Junior females get Moore Hall. Same with guys. Seniors males stay in Moats, and, well, you'll all be in York." Cortez nodded his head.

"And listen closely!" He yelled. "Males are forbidden in the female halls, and vice versa. If you're ever caught, it will be a serious punishment that I decide, and if my mood's not that good, it'll be severe, ya understand?!"

"Yessir!" Luke shouted out.

"Moving on!" He said.

They cornered a hallway that opened up into a huge library. The ceiling rose exponentially, and bookcases so large that could be only rivalled by their height, stood chock-full of books. Red carpet suddenly lined the floor. Tables and chairs were set up everywhere, with pokemon reading at them.

"This is our own Scarland Library!" He exclaimed proudly. Omex looked more shocked than everyone else.

"Damn, you guys have really expanded! This place use to be so empty!" Omex stated in awe.

"Yes, that's true", Heph replied. "In exchange of making this a public library, we've received a massive number of donations. We have books on every subject! Truly a place to be!" Everyone stood there absorbing the sights.

"Ah, you've got to meet our librarian", Heph added.

"You now have a designated librarian?" Omex asked.

"Oh, yes! Someone needs to be in charge of all this, if it wasn't watched over, our books would go haywire." He looked over at Omex.

"Hey, do you remember Samirah?" Heph asked Omex.

"Oh my, that awkward little shuppet!"

"That's her! Only now she's a banette. She's our librarian."

"Unbelievable. She had a real problem or something." Omex added.

"Ah, she's just shy. She's a hard worker - responsible for how good this library looks." The group approached a door in the corner of the room, marked "LIBRARIAN".

Hephaestus gave a cautious knock. "Samirah?" No response.

He cracked the door open. Inside a banette had an ancient book lying out on her table. It was glowing green, as mist escaped and rose into the air. As she had her eyes closed and reciting an incantation, dark flaming souls circled the ceiling, dancing, and slowly moving in a circle.

"AHEM!" Heph exaggerated a cough.

Samirah's eyes opened, and her eyeballs rolled back to the front. She stopped her incanting, and slammed her book shut. The souls above disappeared.

"O-oh… Hi there… How long were you waiting there? I'm sorry! I try doing that in the morning when I have some free time." Her voice was very soft, but stuttery. She was dearly afraid she had offended the guildmaster.

"It's all okay Samirah. We have some late, new guild members. I wanted you to meet them."

"Yes, of course! Where are my manners?" Samirah rapidly got up from her desk, and went around to shake hands.

"I'm Samirah, the librarian here at Scarland. Please excuse that ritual there, I really should've heard the knocking." It seemed to Cortez that every other statement she made was an apology.

"It's all okay, darling", Heph stated. "You can go back to that… uh… what that was."

"Oh, that was simply an old spell dating back to the 14th era to calm the nerves and help focus the…" She looked up at the xatu.

"You're… you're Omex, aren't you?" She said, ignoring her previous explanation.

"Hi Samirah…" Omex said, looking down at the ground.

"Um, you look well." The atmosphere was getting awkward.

"WELP! We do have other things to attend to! I'm sure you do as well!" The guildmaster cried out, breaking up the tension.

Samirah became flustered. "Oh, right, yeah. Other things…" She said to herself. She slowly made her way back to her desk.

Before anyone else could say a word, Heph closed the door.

"I swear, she does some of the most wackiest things I've ever seen in there", he mentioned to himself. "Okay. We shall continue."

He led them down several more hallways before coming to a massive gym. The ceiling rose high off the ground again. But with flood lights raining down.

Several pokemon could be seen practicing moves on dummies. A loudred blasted a dummy with sound waves, and a number lit up above.

"This is our dojo!" The guildmaster exclaimed. "Here, pokemon can practice moves and fight amongst each other. It's no longer a requirement, but we do recommend you come here often and train with Skoll." Heph pointed at an Arcanine, who was training a kricketune to use his blades.

"Skoll, my man, come over here!" Heph added, getting his attention. The arcanine told the kricketune something, then quickly dashed over.

"Hi, guildmaster! What's going on here?" The arcanine was extremely built, his muscles toned his striped body. His fur was elegant and well kept. Overall, he was quite an intimidating pokemon, one who looked to be always training.

"These are some new late guild members. They couldn't be a part of the tour, so I'm catching them up."

Skoll introduced himself, and got everyone's names. "Oh yeah, here at the dojo, we dedicate ourselves to training pokemon. Knowledge in classrooms is very important, but it's also equally important to exercise your body, and stay healthy. I have several aids when this place is its busiest, so never be scared to come down here. We actually hold competitions as well for huge prizes, and that's really fun. You all look capable!"

Cortez was happy to see they had an area to train moves. He felt he was on a big growing streak, and this would help him excel more.

"I saw a number light up over a dummy when it was struck. What's that about?" Luke asked.

"Yes, that's our special attack calculator. Hit the dummy with any special attack, and it will display how strong it was", Skoll explained.

"I wanna try!" Luke cried out, super excited to hear of it.

"Sure! If the guildmaster has a moment?" Skoll asked.

"I don't mind…"

Everyone approached a dummy, with Luke in the front.

"Stay behind the line, and blast it with your strongest move", Skoll reminded Luke.

Luke stared at the dummy a bit, focusing. In a flash, he bellowed out the strongest flamethrower he could muster. The flames exploded on the dummy, and when he was tuckered out, a number lit up on the screen.

342.

"Whew, that's a hard number to grab while being a houndour!" Skoll exclaimed.

"Really?! Was it good?!" Luke said back.

"And I'm sure with some training you could hit 400!" Skoll encouraged.

"Cortez, you've so got to try this!" Luke yelled. It caught Cortez off guard. He really didn't have an idea to hit it, but he was called out so…

Cortez stood in front of the dummy. He focused as hard as he could. He remembered Omex's tips on how to shoot electricity better. He took a deep breath, and had a current travelling in his muscles. With a quick flare, a thunderbolt blasted out and smacked the target.

Cortez was so sure he had shot a blast so strong it destroyed the target. However, when the number showed, he was more than disappointed.

271.

"That's not too shabby", Skoll reviewed. He made it sound obvious that he would've said any number was good.

"Oh, I guarantee it would be in the single digits before I trained with him", Omex explained. "Even though that number's low, he's made serious improvement."

Cortez was feeling ashamed. Luke had bested him, and he hadn't even cared too much about being a real explorer.

"That's really low…" Cortez sighed.

"Then it's a good thing you came here!" Heph explained. "Skoll will bring that up several hundred numbers, I'm sure!"

"Yeah, heh heh! We got him" Skoll's laugh sounded unsure.

"Omex! Omex! Omex!" Luke started chanting.

"NO!" He replied forcefully back.

"Oh come on, Omex! Just like old times!" Hephaestus coaxed.

Omex looked to not do it, and Cortez knew if there was one thing Omex didn't like, it was showing off or talking about his merits.

"Well, Heph, if you'll do it, I'll do it…" He finally bartered.

"Fine by me!" The guildmaster stood in front of the target, and lunged a brilliant white ice beam. Cortez was surprised to see such a low number for the leader of a guild.

405.

"Trust me, that number is NOT an indication of my strength! It's all in here", he said, patting his muscles.

In agreement of Heph doing it, Omex stood up to the plate. Cortez sensed that everyone was dying to know his strength.

"I'm not going all out", he mentioned before warming up. His eyes flared bright purple. His attack was instant. A colorful beam escaped his wings and punched into the dummy. Even if he wasn't going all out, it was clearly strong.

The number read 983.

Everyone was truly impressed.

"Figures it's right under a thousand", Omex stated.

"Could've you gone over?" Luke demanded.

"I could've hit around 1500 with a seriously charged up attack", Omex said back.

Cortez was floored he achieved that number casually.

"Excuse me", Cortez asked either Heph or Skoll. "What's the highest number some has hit yet?"

It was an interesting question.

"Over 5000. It was achieved using a dragon pulse by a salamence", Skoll stated.

"An _actual_ salamence?!" Cortez was floored, those pokemon are very far from few. He couldn't believe one was here.

"…Elderon", Heph added. "The leader of Team Draconex. A group of dragons. They're rated to be _thee_ strongest exploration team ever. They devote their lives to the safety of other pokemon. One of the few teams that doesn't stay in one region, they travel the entire pokemon multiverse. So it was a real treat when they stopped by a few years ago."

Everyone continued to talk back and forth for a while before Heph had to wrap it up.

"Alright, well it was nice talking. We do need to wrap up the tour", Heph explained to Skoll.

"No problem guildmaster! And Cortez, Luke, Azoth, I expect to see you guys down here a lot, okay?" Skoll finished with.

They left the gym, and soon were down a new hallway. They passed a few doors.

"So, what did ya think of Skoll?" Heph asked the crowd.

"He's a cool guy!" Luke said back.

"Yeah, did you know that Demeter, our secretary and Skoll are married?" Hephaestus asked. It caught everyone by surprise. Before anyone had a chance to say anything, he pointed at a door.

"This is the guild staffroom", he explained. "You can normally find me and the other staff here. If there are questions or concerns, come here and talk to one of us."

They continued walking down the hall. Soon they were on the other side of the facility. They passed two new hallways, lined with doors with numbers above them.

"Here's the male's dorm rooms! This is Moats, York is down there. That's where you'll be staying. You'll get paired up with your team members, and you'll share rooms, okay?" Before Heph continued on, he saw the time.

"Wow, how has time escaped us. It's already almost time for team pairing! You guys are due in the dojo for that in a few minutes."

"Well then, I guess I'll be taking my leave", Omex said. Cortez couldn't believe it was finally time for him to say that.

"I'll miss you Omex", Cortez said. Luke took it a lot worse.

"NOOO!" Luke cried out, rubbing his face on Omex's body.

"There, there", he said. He forced Luke's body off him. "I will see you all again, don't worry about that. And I'm glad you guys all decided to join this guild. You'll become great Cortez, I'm sure of it!"

"Where will you go?" Cortez asked.

"I'm going out to do some exploring. Something I haven't done in a long time." He responded. He looked up at the tall beartic.

"Heph, take good care of them", Omex said.

"I certainly will", he said back. Omex nodded his head.

"Alright then, I'm off. Bye everyone!" Cortez watched Omex's body go down the hall, and disappear from sight. It was the last time he would see him in a very long time.

"Will you all be alright?" The guildmaster asked.

"Yeah, we'll be fine. Just fine…" Cortez explained, unsure of himself.

"Good. Now to the dojo with you. It's time to get paired. You remember how to get there, right?"

Cortez, Luke, and Azoth made their way to the dojo. Where it was once empty, it was now packed tightly with young, pre-evolved pokemon.

Cortez saw a mudkip talking with an abra, a hoppip jumping around, and a machop and timburr punching each other. A grimer was complaining, a mime jr. was panicking. It was like a middle school around here. It was crowded tightly. Cortez made sure to stay close to Luke and Azoth, the only two pokemon he was comfortable around.

Within a minute, Demeter approached the stage. She got up to the pedestal, and cleared her throat.

"Attention!" She said into the loud microphone. The young pokemon didn't stop talking. "Attention!" She yelled out again. To no avail, everyone ignored her still. Cortez watched Skoll get up to the pedestal, looking pissed.

"Everyone shut up!" He yelled ferociously. The pokemon one by one stopped what they were doing and looked up to the front. "Thank you!" He finally said.

"Ahem!" Demeter started. "Good evening first years…" She fell silent. No one said a word. "Sorry, that was my joke for the day. Moving on. Today, we assign everyone into teams. Now, I understand you want to be with your buddies, but this allows you have tolerance for other pokemon, and be more kind. Working with strangers will become a regular thing as explorers! Now when I call your name, please come up to the front of the stage. I have a hat here to draw names out of, and then I will write them down on this clipboard."


	8. Bravery Can Be Ignorance

If you would've asked Cortez where he thought he'd be in several years when he was still living with his parents, he would've never said a guild. He pretty much hated a lot of things required in a guild, and thought perfectly fine of himself not to join one. That all pretty much changed however, when Omex forced it down upon him. As much as he didn't care to be here, he decided to swallow his pride and put up with it.

The dojo was full of rambunctious, obnoxious young pokemon who had dreams of making it big as an explorer like himself, but the way they acted, he was sure none of them had ever been in a dungeon – that meant they had never left the city they were born in. As much as he didn't want to look down on other pokemon, he caught himself doing it.

Also, Omex was gone now. Cortez wondered what he was going to be doing. He knew at least that he was trying to right some wrongs, but wondered if he would get in trouble doing it.

Demeter the Leafeon stood up at the podium, and stumbled around a bit, shaking the hat well. Inside the hat were slips of paper of every new guild member this month, and by a simple draw, would affect the lives greatly of the new pokemon.

Demeter cleared her throat as she read the first slip of paper. "Adam, sunkern."

The squeaky voice of a young sunkern exploded as he bounced his way up to the stage front. As soon as he made his way up, Demeter was already drawing a new name.

"Coraline, mime jr." The mime jr. Cortez had saw earlier slowly made her way up to the stage, and stood along Adam the sunkern. Her faced looked distressed.

"And the last member for this team – Bravo, blitzle." A blitzle let loose some sparks as he danced about, galloping his way up to the front. As he approached the other selected pokemon, he could be seen introducing himself and trying to make conversation. The mime jr. seemed particularly anxious, being paired up with perfect strangers.

"That's the first team", Demeter announced. "We will do groups of three, with the remainder being in four or two. Once you've been formed, you may exit the stage and think of a team name."

The pokemon on the stage looked surprised. They traversed down the side of the stage and started talking amongst themselves. Cortez assumed it would be about their team name.

Luke leaned in to mention something to Cortez. "What's the chance me, you and Azoth are put together?"

Cortez looked over Luke, watching Demeter draw the next round of pokemon. "Not high enough", he said back.

"Lawrence, grimer." Cortez couldn't believe it was the next team was being drawn already. He thought it was moving too fast, and he didn't have enough time to cope with his anxiety.

It got even worse when Demeter uttered her next two words. "Luke, houndour." Cortez looked horrified and turned to Luke. His face read 'that's how it goes'. "Seeya later", Luke mentioned, and waltzed up front. He greeted the grimer and stood next to him.

Cortez started to panic. What were the chances his name could be called next? If he wasn't called, perhaps he could persuade one of the team members to trade Luke out? He doubted that was allowed. Demeter pulled out the next paper slip. Cortez crossed his fingers. He squinted his eyes. "Please god, please", he mentioned to himself.

"Azoth, shelmet." WHAT?!

"Huzzah!" Azoth cried out as he awkwardly ran up to the front. Cortez couldn't believe this. Not only was he not picked, but Azoth was! He didn't think that was fair. Luke and Azoth _knew_ each other. Thoughts of calling Demeter out on this raced in his mind.

When Azoth reached the top, Luke patted his helmet.

"Okay, that's the second team." Demeter must've known they knew each other; she had seen them all come in. It didn't faze her a bit though. She proudly said "exit the stage, and think of your team name."

Cortez was doomed. He knew it. All hope of being with his friends was gone. Why did he let Omex persuade him to do this? He wondered if he could just walk out now. Demeter drew the next paper slip.

"Floyd, machop." Fewer and fewer pokemon were remaining uncalled. His chances of getting called were higher and higher. He didn't want to be placed with a machop.

"Nancy, abra." An abra floated her way to meet with the machop. They didn't say a word to each other.

"Alice, hoppip." A nervous hoppip greeted the machop and abra.

"Alright, team 3, done. Exit the stage, think of a team name." Cortez couldn't believe it. Was his name in there? He was concerned he hadn't been called yet. There were eight pokemon still uncalled, including him. Two more pairs of three, and a pair of two, he thought.

"On to team four. Anna, fennekin." A young fennekin briskly jogged her way up to the top. She stood, looking around at the other uncalled pokemon.

Then he couldn't believe it. "Cortez, helioptile." His legs turned to lead. He gulped. He slowly walked up to the front, all the other pokemon staring at him. He climbed the stairs onto the stage. He looked out into the crowd, and studied the dojo.

"Hi", the fennekin said quietly. It caught Cortez off guard. He turned to look at the overly excited fennekin. "Hello", he muttered.

"Sharp, pawniard." Cortez forgot he had one more pokemon to get on his team.

"Yipee! I've been called, folks! I've been called!" The pawniard sprinted up to the stage, and jumped up in front of Cortez, completely ignoring the stairs. He had a look of cherish. "My new team, can't believe it, can you?"

"Uh, no." Cortez replied.

"Team, four, you know the rules! Off the stage!" Demeter stated impatiently.

They stepped down as group and were soon discussing their team name.

"Any good ideas?" Anna asked.

Cortez was quiet. He hadn't really thought it over. Anna the fennekin looked into Cortez's eyes to get a feel for him, but she saw he had no opinion yet on the team name. She looked over to the pawniard.

"Any ideas, Sharp?" She asked.

"Team Alpha! Really has a _jab_ to it, doesn't it?!" Sharp let out a wholesome laugh, indicating to them he may not be serious.

"Of course, I really could care less", he added. "I'm just here to assist my team members!"

Anna looked to be acting as polite as she could.

"Well", Cortez finally started. "We should have a name with meaning. One that reflects our goals as a team, I think."

"Our goals to help pokemon all over the world?" Anna said sweetly.

That answer didn't size up to Cortez's ambitions, but he felt it was a start.

"And that's group 5!" He heard Demeter mention. Cortez had completely forgotten about the rest of the team selections. He looked up to see a timburr, a gligar, and a snubbull walk off the side of the stage.

That left two pokemon uncalled. A mudkip, and a drilbur. "You two will be team 6, okay?" Demeter said to the two of them.

Cortez turned back to the attention of his new teammates. They still awkwardly, and silently tried to think of something. Cortez wasn't helping at all.

"How does Team Nexus sound?" Anna bartered.

"Why that?" Sharp asked.

"I think it encompasses our idea of providing a safe haven for pokemon", she explained.

Cortez thought it sounded mediocre at best.

"I love it!" Sharp exclaimed, jumping up and down. Anna and Sharp looked at Cortez to get his input, since he hadn't said anything yet.

Cortez didn't want to be difficult, and since the majority of the team liked it, he decided he was obligated to agree. Besides, it was just a temporary practice team while he was in the guild, right? Nothing permanent…

"Yeah, let's use it", Cortez admitted. "It has a nice ring to it, too…" he lied.

Anna grew a smile. She was glad her idea became the team's name.

Throughout the room, the other pokemon could be heard arguing about their name. Surprisingly enough, his team seemed to be the first to finish. Some pokemon were shouting, some were threatening to beat up another pokemon.

"We are not using that!" Floyd the machop could be heard yelling, fists flexed.

"So", Anna started. "I've never been in a mystery dungeon before. Have you?"

Cortez couldn't believe it. Pokemon signing up in a guild with absolutely no experience. He was liking his team less and less, he could've rolled with Omex and gotten way stronger with him.

"Yeah, just once." Sharp said. "I was inspired to become an explorer years ago when I got lost in a mystery dungeon. The pokemon were too powerful, and I was attacked. I couldn't defend myself, so I fainted. I spent a week in there before a team saved me. Team Hearthfire, actually."

Great. Cortez was paired up with a wimp.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so glad you're alive and made it out okay!" Anna exclaimed.

"I am too! Now I can pass it along, and help others! Maybe get some cool loot, as well! Something shiny…" Sharp said back.

"I've been in quite a few mystery dungeons already. I came from Spira Town, if you know where that is", Cortez stated.

Both pokemon shook their heads no. "I've never been out of this city before", Anna mentioned.

"It's pretty far away. I've been through several dungeons just to get here! And not to mention I had to battle a giant pidgeot on the way!" Cortez boldly let out.

"Wow!" Sharp dazzled. "You must be a serious pro! We are so gonna dog these pokemon in the contests!"

"I'm glad you're with us then. I think I could use some pointers from you if I fall behind", Anna said.

Cortez couldn't help to think he might've already over exaggerated himself.

"Well, I'll do my best…" Cortez added, a little less confident.

Demeter approached them suddenly. "Please tell me you've thought of a team name", she said.

"Team Nexus!" Sharp bellowed out.

"Wonderful", Demeter stated, writing it down. "Some of the teams won't decide, I'm glad I can check you off the list. Hang tight until we get everyone else sorted out." Demeter strolled away to talk to the other teams still yelling.

Skoll the arcanine could be seen intervening with the team that had the machop, abra, and hoppip.

Team Nexus made small talk, waiting for everything to get sorted. The dojo became noisy with talking, and ten minutes went by. As Anna was proudly talking about her rich dad, Cortez eyed a few pokemon coming over to them. He made a face to Anna that pokemon were approaching them from behind her. She turned around as a gligar, a snubbull, and timburr faced them.

"Can you believe that team over there?" The gligar croaked. "Poor Floyd got stuck in a team of girls that want the team name to be something fluffy!"

"What's wrong with girls?" Anna said angrily.

The timburr snickered. "Floyd ain't gonna mix well with 'em."

"Amateurs, all of them", the gligar said, looking at the other teams.

"You all seem to have your shit figured out, got that team name off right away. I like that. Organization", the timburr stated.

"Ah, where are my manners? I'm Clyde", the gligar offered.

All the pokemon introduced each other, and gave a bit of a background of themselves.

"Damn, you're one of the few students here with a bit of field experience already", Clyde declared when he heard Cortez had travelled from a faraway town. "You're in a different league than your teammates here. Naturally you'll be the leader over them."

Cortez was caught off guard by all this. He was flattered that he was being declared 'leader material', but at the same time, didn't want to proudly accept that, and be rude to his teammates. The gligar was hard spoken and didn't hold back on what he said.

Clyde the gligar has a large family of roaming gliscor that raided the world. Clyde had been in quite a few dungeons himself, and was hardened in childhood due to the wild lifestyle his family lived. He became an explorer squarely for the fame and loot, a goal Cortez shared.

Murdock the timburr was friends with Floyd, both who apparently bullied other pokemon. They were both quite strong for their age. Seamus the snubbull was stuck up, who thought highly of himself, and expected everyone to be as elegant as him.

"Together, we are Team Varien", Murdock stated. "We plan to easily out do any of these weak teams here."

"So what are you guys going by?" Clyde asked.

"Team Nexus!", Anna declared happily. That response gave Team Varien contorted faces of held back laughter.

"I know my man Cortez here didn't think that one up!" Clyde said back harshly.

"I thought of it!" Anna yelled angrily. She definitely was not liking these stuck up pokemon. "Anything wrong with it?"

Seamus and Murdock burst out laughing. Cortez put his head down looking shameful, seeing the name was as bad as he might've thought it was.

"Aw, don't worry Cortez, it's only for a few months", Clyde reassured. "After this, you can roll with pokemon better suited for you!"

Sharp or Anna had grown to already hate Team Varien. They were both actively lashing out at them. Cortez could see they were being rude, but didn't defend his team, wanting to still be cool. He didn't agree with them either, because he wanted his team to at least like him.

He wished he had been put in their group, with pokemon who were powerful.

Their conversation was interrupted when Demeter tried to get everyone's attention again.

"We have finished the naming process!" She declared. "Team 1 is Fairblade!" It consisted of the sunkern, mime jr., and blitzle.

"Team 2 is Soar!" Luke and Azoth could be seen waving at Cortez, along with Lawrence the grimer.

"Team 3 is… finally… Team Flowerpuff!" The abra and hoppip bounced about happily. The Floyd the machop however, pouted with his arms crossed. Team Varien exploded with laughter, pointing at Floyd.

"Team 4 is Nexus!" Everyone looked at Cortez and his group.

"Team 5 is Varien!" Clyde raised a claw. Seamus clapped for himself.

"And team 6 is Mudwave!" The drilbur and mudkip high fived each other. They seemed to get along nicely.

Demeter flustered her papers into a pile. "And now, Skoll will take it from here!"

Skoll the arcanine slowly walked up to the podium, exchanged a few silent words with Demeter, and cleared his throat.

"Alright, young pokemon! We have a decent sized class this month. 17 of you guys! I'm glad to see all your shining faces, ready to become explorers! As you know, you'll all be having classes together. We strive to inform you all on the basics of being an exploration group. Your first month will be of basic classes. After that, you'll be allowed to take on small cases. I'm sure most of you know that the guild will be taking a mere 90% of your earnings from that, covering the cost of running the guild. After month 3 has completed, you will be allowed to reassemble into teams that you'll feel comfortable in. After 3 more months, you will be put through the graduation test. If you've worked hard, you'll pass, and be honored as an official exploration team.

Once you are past that half year mark, you have two options. You can either leave the guild with the guildmaster's blessing, or you can stay and continue to learn, increasing your knowledge, and bettering yourself."

Cortez couldn't fathom staying for longer than he had to.

Skoll wrapped up his statements. He then directed everyone to their first class. The group of 17 pokemon travelled down the hall, to a classroom. When Skoll opened the door, an old honchkrow could be seen writing at a desk. His eyes darted up.

"Good morning, Skoll. New students, I imagine?" He said sharply.

"You'd be right on that!" Skoll replied.

The honchkrow leaned back in his chair, and put a foot up. "Let's do it, then."

Skoll turned to look at the class. "Alright, everyone in. It's time to introduce you to your teacher!" The class filed in. They all stood tightly around the honchkrow's desk. He quickly became flustered.

"Everyone, take a seat somewhere!" He snapped.

"Okay then, I'll leave you to it!" Skoll said. He left promptly.

Cortez noticed how quick Skoll left. This honchkrow seemed very snappy and grumpy, and he certainly didn't like that.

"Ahem!" He announced, now standing from his desk. "I am Sherm. MISTER, Sherm, mind you all." Mr. Sherm wrote his name on the board.

"I, unfortunately, have been tasked with teaching all you nitwits a thing or two about becoming explorers. I have a few classroom rules that I do NOT take lightly! Number one! You will do exactly as I say, no questions asked." Cortez could tell immediately that Mr. Sherm did not like his job. He wondered why in the world he was a teacher to begin with.

"Number two! You will not fight or cause any disruptions that will piss me off. Trust me, you don't want me pissed off. And thirdly – arguably most importantly – you will listen closely and learn my lessons, or you'll never make it out here. If you can follow these basic rules, you can manage to get out of this as a better person."

The classroom was very tense. Luke had been sitting by Cortez. Even though they weren't on the same team, it didn't mean they couldn't do anything together.

"Man, this guy needs to take a chill pill or something…" Luke mentioned quietly to Cortez.

Mr. Sherm continued on. "Now, if you don't like that 'starter deck of cards', I have a booster pack for you." He went back over to his desk. He opened one of his drawers and pulled out a file. "And today's booster pack is", he started as he opened the file. "Oh look, it's assigned seats. Everyone line up against the side of the wall!"

Cortez had no idea why he was using such lame metaphors. Deck of cards? Booster packs? The class lined up against the side of the wall.

Mr. Sherm stared at the paper. "Blitzle, up here!" He yelled pointing to the first desk. Bravo ran up, and quickly took a seat.

"Snubbull! You're next!" Seamus took a seat by Bravo.

"Helioptile!" Cortez jumped at hearing his name. He ran up and sat quietly by Seamus.

He continued this until he had everyone seated. He had ended with the abra, sunkern, and Luke in the far back. It didn't take long for Cortez to realize he had put everyone in a specific order. Pokemon he was weak to in the front, and pokemon he was resistant to in the back.

He also refused to call any of the pokemon by their name, just their species.

"A whole 17 of you guys. Ugh." Mr. Sherm sat at his desk going through papers.

Everyone sat awkwardly as Mr. Sherm spent two long minutes going through papers silently.

Sharp suddenly raised his hand. He wanted to ask a question. Mr. Sherm didn't look up. He continued to go through papers. After a few seconds, Sharp started to talk.

"Hey uh, Mr. Sh"

"Zip it, pawniard!" Mr. Sherm snapped instantly without looking up. Sharp promptly sunk into his seat. This went on for another minute. He slapped a pile of papers down hard on his desk.

Finally, Mr. Sherm stood up. "I want to pick everyone's brains a bit. See what some of you know", he stated. "Who can tell me how long an x-eye seed duration runs for?"

Cortez looked around to see no one give an instant response. Just then, the mime jr. raised her hand.

"Mime jr.", Mr. Sherm pointed.

"Uh, 23 seconds?" She said meekly.

"Precisely!" Mr. Sherm exclaimed. Coraline exploded with happiness.

"Now, can you tell me what item I could combine with that seed to increase its duration by 10 seconds?" He quickly added.

Coraline's happiness left instantly. She sunk into her seat.

"Tsk. I guess if you threw that at a feral and needed precisely 28 seconds, you'd be outta luck, wouldn't you?" He waited a bit to see if anyone would attempt an answer, but no one did. He moved on.

"I'm starving in a dungeon, and I see a berry I've never seen before. It's yellow, white spots, red thorns sticking out. Is it safe for me to eat?" Once again he got no response.

"Guess you all would either decide to gamble eating the klasbin berry, or leave it and starve. Unfortunately, if you ate it, you'd suffer from a severe form of toxic. If you didn't, you'll starve to death." Mr. Sherm seemingly gave them a no win scenario, but he wasn't done.

"But what you didn't know, is if you boiled the berry in its own juice, it would be safe to eat. And quite a good meal at that." He immediately moved to his next question.

"A defense scarf can be made with what three simple fibers?" He asked. Everyone looked at him dumbfounded. Cortez was shocked that anyone would know this stuff.

"No one…? Hmm, guess no one here makes scarves…" Mr. Sherm finally said. Before he could move on, Luke raised his hand. He was getting sick of this hard-questions game.

Mr. Sherm's face became contorted. "Yes, houndour?!" He forcefully asked.

"What do you need to make one?" Luke said.

Mr. Sherm's eyes narrowed. He didn't reply right away. After a moment passed, he walked to the board, picked up the chalk, and began.

"Ryon stem! Redroot vines! Bloon cotton!" He quickly scribbled this on the board. "Woven at a three-fourths process manufactured using a five layer intertwined architecture until two feet or desired thickness!" Mr. Sherm rapidly drew out charts and graphs on the board that were seemingly inexplicable.

"Any average-joe could make one in a few minutes using these basic ingredients found in forest dungeons!" Cortez was so intrigued. He never knew items could be crafted. He thought the only way you could get them was to find them.

"These are concepts that you need to know! These are skills that can differentiate between life or death in a dungeon!" He slammed the chalk hard on the stand. "Do you get it yet? You young pokemon know _nothing_! And it's my job to turn you numbskulls into working machines of exploring! If you were cornered by a hoard of, oh I don't know, beedrill? – And you had a decoy seed and an eyedrop seed, they would be seemingly useless in that situation by themselves. But no one here knew that slamming the seeds together would create 100 illusions of yourself, allowing you to get away! This kind of information that you'll learn here can and will be vital to the survival of you or your team.

Let me set the record straight. Those pokemon you've heard of that became legendary explorers without going through a guild? _Ridiculous._ You _need_ the knowledge a guild provides to do anything worthwhile!"

This was speaking volumes to Cortez. It was almost like Mr. Sherm had read his mind and was lecturing him directly. The more and more he listened to him, the more he realized he needed this guild. He had never even heard of slamming seeds together like that to get different effects.

"Does this answer your question, houndour?" Mr. Sherm asked Luke, while pointing to the board. Luke studied the board. To him, the charts and graphs looked like hieroglyphs.

"N-no… I mean yes! W-well, eh, I'm not sure…" Luke stammered.

Mr. Sherm gave the class a condescending look.

"If anyone thinks they can manage being an explorer without these classes, you're free to leave", he stated.

No one moved. No one said another word.

"Alright then. I think I've proved my point." He started to erase his information written on the board. "In six months, you'll be able to write out that entire chart for me. You'll be able to craft items from bare minimums. You'll know that some items can combine to create far more useful effects. You'll be _informed, wise explorers_. That's my goal and promise to you all."

It was obvious the entire class had been moved by the lecture.

"Now pass these papers out. A journey of 1000 miles starts with lesson one."


	9. Guild Activities

This month's class of 17 students sat in the cafeteria. After what felt like several hours of Mr. Sherm's verbal lashings, the group was hungry and ready for a delicious meal. The cafeteria, like the rest of the guild rooms, was impressive. The room was coated in antique red bricks, that stacked high to a spruce ceiling. Large, square shaped lamps hung from the wood, which were accompanied with glass panels to allow sunlight in. From looking up at the panels, it was shown to be later in the evening.

Honestly, Cortez would hate to admit it, but there was something about Mr. Sherm that he liked. He thought his teacher was impatient, controlling, cocky, and quite blunt. But his lessons, and teachings, were genuine. More genuine than any other thing that he had experienced.

Cortez was enjoying one of the best meals he had ever eaten. He had a large wooden bowl in front of him, chopped full of varying home cooked berries, along with several vegetables, thrown together into a medley. It contained the perfect balance of a healthy meal; and it was delicious.

Luke seemed to like it even more. He couldn't stop complimenting the food.

"Now I know why they take 90 percent! How else could they make this scrumptious delight?" He declared with a full mouth.

The cafeteria had 4 long tables. The table to the far right was for the new students, where all 17 of them sat. The other 3 tables contained older pokemon, long-term members of the guild. The table at the far right contained the staff. Even with the drabble of all the pokemon in the room, the guildmaster's roaring laugh could be heard from the other side.

At the end of the room, opposing the doors to enter, was the kitchen. Several pokemon were busily cooking and handing out the skillfully prepared meals, which were all done by an octillery with a chef's cap on. When Cortez was lined up to get his food, he saw a sneasel, and a ribombee dashing about the kitchen with various ingredients being touted around. What intrigued him the most was the old octillery, who never had a tentacle being idle. All of his arms contained various kitchen utensils that bounced around several ovens and counters. It was truly a sight, he wondered how the octillery could keep track of everything he was doing. Every once in a while, his arms would toss quite a few fully prepared dishes onto the receiving counter.

After the group of students were done admiring the food, the conversation turned to Mr. Sherm.

"The guy's a nut case!" Luke exclaimed. "He knew we wouldn't have answers to those questions! Was he trying to show off his knowledge or something?"

"I think he was making a point", Anna responded, who quickly became acquainted with the rest of the class. "But, he's kinda mean."

"His booster pack analogy was gold!" Sharp chimed in, only caring about the laugh he got from that.

"Well, he's certainly a smart guy", Cortez finally started. "If there's one thing I want, it's his knowledge. That's very important."

"Did anyone else notice how he went psycho when Luke interrupted him with a question?" Lawrence the grimer asked in a low, liquid voice. "He really scares me. I don't think I will be asking too many questions…"

"He complained a lot as well", Luke added. "How he had to 'unfortunately' teach us. And he hates that this is a large class."

A lot of the young pokemon wondered if he was really teaching because he wanted to, or if he was being forced to do it somehow. Once people ran out of things to critique about their new teacher, the table grew silent for a moment.

"So, what do you think of the other teams?" Luke asked the table.

"I think they are nice… except for a few." Anna replied immediately. "I don't very much like those pokemon down there." Anna pointed at the other end of the table, where a gligar, snubbull, machop, and timburr sat. "They made fun of our team name!"

"Nexus, right? I think it's just fine. Maybe they were trying to push your buttons", Luke said.

"Well… well… why would they do that?" Anna asked with genuine curiosity.

"Maybe they didn't like one of us", Sharp said, putting his hands against his head. "Maybe they _hate_ me!" He planted his cold, steel head on the table.

"Nobody hates you Sharp!" Cortez exclaimed. "They just… I think they just wanted to be dominant, and they saw us as a threat."

"Like you did anything to help! You just stood there and didn't defend us!" Anna snapped back, feeling hurt about that past memory.

"I'm sorry. I think I was flustered or something", Cortez said, trying to make himself believe it. He had to choose between supporting his team, or not making enemies with Team Varien. He was thinking enemies were unfortunately going to have to be made.

Before a new thought could get out, several new pokemon arrived through the door and into the cafeteria. When Cortez saw them, his heart skipped a beat.

These three pokemon entered the cafeteria, and stopped to look at everyone. The first pokemon was a tall and withered cacturne. His plant skin was old and wrinkled, yet his darker green spikes seemed overly sharpened. The large hat that was on his head covered his eyes, leaving the dotted black holes that lined across his face, forming a smile. The second pokemon was a menacing krookodile. He was seriously ripped. His muscles were far more toned and detailed than even Skoll's, with the outlines of veins that passed through the black stripes on his maroon body. The last pokemon was a crawdaunt. His pincer's were large, they looked to be able to snap through just about anything that got in his way. His eyes pierced anything they looked at, which were surrounded by deep black circles. He snipped his pincers a couple times, indicating their strength.

Cortez knew the three right off. It was Team Blacksun. When he was much younger, he watched this team on TV all the time. They were extremely powerful, and highly respected.

To Cortez's surprise, the other pokemon he sat with didn't know who they were.

"Woah, who are those pokemon? They look strong as hell! Dag!" Luke exclaimed. Cortez darted around.

"No one knows who they are?!" Cortez asked, portraying more surprise than he would've liked to shown. All the pokemon stared at him clueless.

"That's Team Blacksun! They are one of the most powerful teams in existence!" Cortez couldn't stare at his friends too much longer, he had to get more eyefuls of the team. "They're super famous! They've found some of the rarest treasure in the world, and helped countless pokemon. Man, I sure as hell watched them on TV all the time!"

Cortez was debating if he was even worthy enough to approach them and say hello. Not too long after standing there, Hephaestus was up, and greeting the pokemon. He gave each of them a firm hand shake.

"Glad to have you guys visit again! How's the team doing?" The guildmaster asked enthusiastically.

"Great, thanks for asking!" The cacturne said in a dusty voice. "We just got back from a dungeon called Elderwood Plateau. Some brave explorers got lost in there and we had to retrieve them. We were just coming in for a meal, if that's not too much to ask."

"Oh absolutely, please, help yourself. As alumnus of this guild, you're free to eat here whenever!" The guildmaster responded.

Cortez couldn't believe his ears. Team Blacksun actually studied at _this_ guild?! He felt like he was going to faint and explode out of his chair at the same time.

"They're all dark types like me!" Luke exclaimed.

"Me too!" Sharp yelled, not wanting to be left out. "Hail the dark side!"

Cortez was practically ignoring them at this point. It got even crazier when the cacturne pointed at his table. "Is that this month's new students?" He heard him say.

"Yes, would you care to say a few words to the aspiring adventurers?" Heph asked.

Now Cortez's heart was pounding like mad. _They were walking over here._ My god, he had never seen them so up close before. Wait, he had never seen them in real life either!

"Greetings, students!" The cacturne said as nicely as he could. His dusty voice made it hard to tell if he was trying to be polite.

Cortez couldn't hold it in anymore.

"Greetings, Kalmont. Uh, Mr. Kalmont… the cacturne." Cortez was freaking out. Was it too formal to call him by his name? Should he add 'mister'? Should he just call him by his species name, or was that weird too?

"And Corpulon, and Detridge. I'm a huge fan. Oh man, I'm your biggest fan, I mean. I watched your show all the time. I mean, not all the time. Like, I had other things to do too. I didn't watch it a lot. Well, I did." Cortez's head was spinning.

"Glad to have a fan here!" Detridge the krookodile stated, putting his hand on the small helioptile, shutting him up.

"How's day two of being students of Scarland Guild?" Kalmont asked the table.

"Great, we're already learning so much!" Sharp exclaimed.

"Who's your teacher?" Corpulon the crawdaunt added.

"A honchkrow named Mr. Sherm!" Luke shouted.

"Ah, Sherm", Kalmont said to himself. "That old coot is still teaching. He taught me, you know?"

Cortez couldn't believe it. Mr. Sherm taught Kalmont. How old was he? He must've been very old to be teaching when Kalmont was young. He made a note to ask him about how it was like teaching Team Blacksun. He then wondered if it was actually safe to ask him such a question.

"Just remember, young explorers", Kalmont announced to the table. "Follow your dreams, work hard, and anything is possible. I remember the day when all three of us sat at his very table when Cardron the golduck was still guildmaster. The important thing is to bond with your team members. The bond you make in your team is what really brings you to success, and rises you up in the ranks."

Oh man, _ranks._ He wondered how high Kalmont's rank was. Was it double master like Omex's? Was it triple master?! Hell, it could even be champion for all he knew.

"Always remember though while you are here, as much as you rely on the guild, the guild relies on you. You students are the reason this guild can operate efficiently. So always give it your best!" When he was done with his speech, the table clapped.

"Excuse me, Kalmont! What is your rank if you don't mind me asking?" Cortez asked humbly.

"What a cute kid", Kalmont responded, patting his head. He shifted his attention to the guildmaster, acting as if he didn't even hear what Cortez asked.

Team Blacksun grabbed some food from the octillery, and accompanied the staff at the staff table. It seemed as soon as they arrived, they had left.

"Man, he played your question off like nothing!" Luke howled.

"He probably has a lot on his mind. Or maybe he didn't hear me. I actually think it's rude to ask someone their rank." Cortez rang off all the ideas that bounced into his head about why he didn't answer. He didn't want to think he was simply played off.

They finished their meals and turned their bowls into the front of the kitchen, where stacks of bowls were adding up. The class was told that until they had to go to bed, and after meal time, they had the evening to themselves. It was encouraged to study at the library or train at the dojo.

Scarland Guild was bigger than Cortez realized once he was allowed to roam about. Anna had split off to spend the evening with Nancy the abra, Coraline the Mime jr., and Alice the hoppip. Cortez, Luke, and Sharp paired up to do something.

"Hey, let's hit the dojo and get some training in!" Sharp exclaimed while doing a cartwheel down the hall. "We can _sharpen_ our skills a bit! Hahaha!"

Luke howled with laughter at the unnecessary pun, Cortez excused it.

"Man, this guy's great!" Luke declared, redeeming Sharp's self-esteem some.

Cortez agreed it would be a good idea to hit the dojo. With his approval, they made their way to the large facility. The dojo was the largest room in the guild, and it was in the center. All the hallways, classrooms, and other facilities wrapped around it. Because of this, there were many doors on each side of the dojo to go in and out of. When they swung the doors open, there were lots of pokemon training. It was the evening, and the busiest time for explorers young and old to increase their strength.

Amongst the many pokemon training, Cortez spotted Skoll coaching a dodrio and a metang. With him looking to be so busy, he wasn't sure if it was right to bother him at the moment.

"What should we do?" Cortez asked, not sure where or how to start training.

"Hey look, there's that team with the mudkip and drilbur in it", Luke stated, pointing in the corner to the two pokemon who were surrounded by target dummies. "Let's go see if they know anything."

When the three approached them, the mudkip let loose a water gun onto the dummy, drenching it.

"Damn, could've done better!" The mudkip exclaimed, insulting the marvelous water gun he pulled off.

"That looked great Trav!" The drilbur coaxed.

"Phooey! I'm missing something!" The mudkip responded.

The drilbur turned to face them.

"Oh hey! You're all in our class I believe!" He said. The mudkip turned around when he heard the drilbur talk to them.

"Yeah, that's right. I'm Cortez", he stated. Everyone introduced themselves.

"I'm Dash, this is Travino", the drilbur started. "We're Team Mudwave."

"Yeah, part of us is Nexus, me and Sharp, but Luke is in…" Cortez didn't remember Luke's team name.

"I'm in Team Soar", Luke finished.

"Cool beans. You here to train? Or what", Travino asked.

"Definitely, we just don't know where to start", Cortez responded.

"Start here", Trav said back shortly. "There's targets everywhere. Hit them up. You're special training, right?"

"I guess."

"Yeah, just light up the targets. The numbers tell you the strength of the attack. Just keep practicing", Travino explained. He turned away indicating he was done, and prepared himself for another water gun.

"I'm guessing you'll train physically…" Dash said to Sharp.

"Yes, I'll do metal claw over flash cannon any day!" Sharp said back.

"This may sound weird, but do you want to spar a bit? Skoll says it's good practice when two physical attackers engage each other", Dash explained.

"Really? Oh, I don't know, what if I hurt you?" Sharp said, genuinely concerned.

"It's just practice. The safe word will be 'ouch', okay? Luke, be the referee!" Dash said.

"FOUL!" Luke yelled.

"We haven't started!"

"Oh yeah…"

Cortez studied the dummy. This was it. He _was_ going to get stronger, no matter what it took. That meant practice. How could he be taken seriously by anyone if his attacks did a little more than a tickle?

He stretched his legs. He stretched his arms. He stretched and stretched. Too much stretching he thought. He wanted to do every little trick to get the most out of his attack. A couple slow, deep breaths. Frills flared up. He started to channel the electricity. He grunted as his muscles produced a charge. When he couldn't hold any more electricity, he blasted out a thunderbolt to the dummy.

After an attack that made him a tad light headed, the number read 256. Was that more or less than what it was originally? He knew Luke hit the 300's, so he knew he was still behind.

He had to try again. Practice makes perfect right? _Repetition is the path to mastery_ , he thought. Another charge. Another blast of lightning. 227. Cortez scratched his head. He did more stretching. He remembered everything Omex told him. It's in the chest, right? His frills flared again, and another thunderbolt smacked the dummy. 264. His numbers weren't consistent. They were spontaneous, meaning somethings were going right and wrong in each try.

"Your form is off." Cortez jumped unexpectedly. Travino had crept up on him during his thinking process.

"What am I doing wrong?" Cortez asked, willing to accept any criticism that would improve him.

"Hmm. Well… everyone has their own form, but you don't have one. You change what you're doing in each attack." Travino explained.

"I'm trying to get a feel for what I'm doing right and wrong", he responded.

"That's fine and dandy, but you have to stick with something if want to make any progress… Here, watch."

Travino the mudkip took several steps. His head fell back, and with a quick single movement, his head lunged forward, with his back arched. With his mouth opened, a large spiral of water whipped out of his mouth, drenching the target.

A peachy 381. His movements were clean, his form somehow put extra force behind the water gun. It was brilliant.

"That was great", Cortez said, a compliment he really didn't feel like sharing. He was upset he couldn't do the same.

"Thanks. You know, physical form has a lot to do with the power of the attack, but the moves are special after all. Maybe change your mindset some. All special attacks originate in the mind." With that, Travino left him to go back to practicing by himself.

Cortez felt tired from all that electricity shooting. He turned and saw Sharp's quick jabs being blocked and smacked out the way by a patient Dash. Luke was yelling some nonsense at the two of them.

"Watch the jab! Watch the jab! Right hook!" Luke yelled.

"OUCH!" Dash bellowed. The fight broke up. Sharp and Dash caught their breath.

"Whew, I thought I had my blocking undefeatable, but those are some quick slicers ya got there", Dash reviewed.

"Thanks!"

Luke turned to look at Cortez. "Travino help you out there?"

"Seems like I need help from everyone…" Cortez muttered glumly.

"You'll get it man, in time", Luke tried to encourage.

"Guys I'm pooped!" Sharp said. "Can we go do something else now?"

"Yeah, let's see what else there is", Cortez responded, wanting to take his mind off the dojo for now.

The three left Travino and Dash, who ended up talking to each other more than practicing after the fight with Sharp. They followed the hallway for a while. They passed several other pokemon.

"How was that drilbur?" Cortez asked Sharp.

"He's pretty good. I think. That was my first time attacking someone", he said back.

"You've never attacked another pokemon before?" Luke asked.

"No. It felt weird trying to hurt him", Sharp explained.

"What about ferals? You said you got lost in a mystery dungeon", Cortez pressed.

"Hmm." Sharp scratched his head. "I don't remember much about that. I got lost and an exploration team saved me… Hmm… Guess my memory is a little dull."

Cortez found it very odd that Sharp couldn't remember if he attacked some ferals, but didn't bother to push on about it.

They made it to the entrance of the library.

"Hey, let's check it out!" Sharp yelled, getting his mind (and everyone else's) onto a different subject.

They entered the massive library. A volbeat was at the front desk, sorting books. A gigalith, a simisage, and a lucario sat at a table discussing some books they were reading. At another table, Nancy, Coraline, and Anna seemed to be gossiping.

"Think of all the knowledge in the room…" Cortez mentioned at the sight of the towering bookshelves.

"I wonder if there's some books on fire breathing…" Luke said.

"We have a whole section on special attacking over there", the volbeat said, picking up on their conversation.

"Thanks!" Cortez said. That was just what he needed. If he couldn't improve by trial and error, maybe he could read up on some techniques. He passed Anna who waved at them.

They made it to the corner of the library that had a hanging sign that read 'Combat'. They found an isle that was marked special attacking. Looking at all the books, Cortez wasn't sure where to begin. He skimmed past several books that said 'I Am a Special Attacker', 'Special Thoughts: A Guide on Attacking', 'Channeling the Psychic Mind', '101 Reasons to Consider Mind Alterations', and more. They all looked old, thick, and intimidating.

Cortez wasn't the only one to not know where to start. Luke and Sharp equally looked like they had no idea what a book was. Cortez suddenly noticed that Samirah the banette, and head librarian, was sitting on top of the tall isle, her mind deep in a book called 'Summoning the Dead on a Cold Winter Night' she was reading. He thought if anyone knew what book to read – it was her.

"Samirah!"

Samirah jumped a tad. Her eyes blinked hard, refocusing her mind. She looked down at Cortez who called her name.

"Hi. Hello. Uh… can I help you?" She stated half annoyed, yet half concerned.

"I'm looking for a book to make my electric attacks stronger. Any ideas?" Cortez regretted bothering her slightly.

She pursed her lips a bit in thought. Her experienced eyes quickly scanned the shelves, analyzing the books there.

"Try this." Samirah extended her arm, and a book slid out of its place. It fell above Cortez who caught it abruptly. The book was called 'A Beginner's Guide to Electricity Generation and Exudation, Second Edition'.

He became really excited to read it. "Thank you, Samirah." Cortez said. She didn't acknowledge. She was back in her book.

The book made a thud as Cortez opened it on the table. The pages were yellow and tattered. The print was small for a beginner's book. Cortez skipped the table of contents. He skipped the opening letter and author's note. He started reading.

'Electricity generation can be dated back as early as the 9th century, as early scholars discovered the properties of voltage and how to summon it. The frequent disposition of electric storms and unruly weather patterns meant surprising discoveries on the overall natural generation…'

 _Boring!_ Cortez thought. He skipped the several page long history on how electricity was discovered. He thumbed the book a bit.

'During the Legion-Windcloak War, General Zeponrigg the III founded the Zero Arrival Pertaining Public Evacuation Rescue System, or Z.A.P.P.E.R.S. for short. In the distress of the Elder Dominion State, King Hyrimiuon issued the equipped thunder fighters a mission to resolve the misunderstanding of…'

 _Ugh, when do I learn about frying my enemies?!_ Cortez thumbed over the application of electric attacking in modern history. By the time he passed everything that looked boring to him, he was at the end of the book. _Great._

Cortez plopped his head down on top of the book. He didn't want to read all this boring non-sense in order to channel his electricity better. When he put his head up, Luke and Sharp were also reading at his table.

"Yes, I see." Sharp turned the page.

"Very interesting." He turned another page.

"I didn't know that." He turned another page.

"What are you learning?" Luke asked.

"Hmm." Sharp turned another page. "Well, that's a good question. Based on the chapters so far, it has come to my attention that – now listen closely – that I have discovered that I can't read."

Cortez didn't know if this was a joke or not.

"Are you serious?!" Luke said.

"Nah, I can read. But who wants to read anyways? I want to do cartwheels!" He slammed the book shut.

In the end, Cortez's overall excitement of the library left him. The books were as complicated as they could be, and it didn't help the fact he had a short attention span. After spending his afternoon in the dojo and library, it was already dark out. It was time to start turning in, but Cortez and Luke hadn't been shown their rooms yet.

After a quick chat with Demeter who was found at the main office, they were shown their rooms. Since Sharp was the last student processed before them, they were able to be put in a three-man room with him. They travelled down York hall, and met the door at the end. A plaque above said room 213.

"Here we are gents!" Sharp said, opening the door. Inside there were 3 straw based beds, 3 desks, and a closet.

"Make yourselves at home. Well, this is your home from now on I guess", he added. Cortez and Luke took their bags off, and tossed them in the corner. Cortez pulled out the schedule he was given.

"Class again tomorrow with Mr. Sherm after breakfast", he stated.

"Great!" Luke said, drawn out and sarcastically. He got comfy in his bed. Cortez studied his desk. Inside contained paper and pencils. In another drawer… a complimentary gummi!

"Hey there's gummis in here!" Cortez yelled out louder than he meant to.

"WHAT?!" Luke yelled a little loud as well. He jumped out of bed and checked his desk.

"Oh yeah. I had mine already. Those things are good", Sharp explained. A note was attached to them. 'Here's to a good term full of learning and fun. Studies show that eating gummis can increase your IQ. Compliments of Scarland City Guild.'

"Not bad at all!" Luke said munching on his sky gummi. The gummis were seemingly random. Cortez got a blue one.

Eventually it got late, and everyone decided it was time to go to sleep. The three got comfy in their beds.

"Can someone tell me a good night story?" Sharp asked politely.

"Once upon a time", Cortez started. Sharp got overly excited. "There was a helioptile."

"Oh yay it's about us!" Sharp interjected.

"That wanted to go the fuck to sleep." Cortez shut the light off and it became silent.

Luke could be heard holding back some serious laughter.

"Well that was the worse story I've ever heard!" Sharp announced in the darkness.


	10. Your Team Before Yourself

"Wisdom is _not_ the enemy of intelligence!" Mr. Sherm snapped. "I don't care if you've battled in mystery dungeons for a living before you came to this class! I don't care if you've crunched hordes of ferals like they were potato chips! In this class, it will be like you've never stepped in a mystery dungeon!"

After a sleepy awakening and a brisk breakfast in the cafeteria, everyone prepared themselves for Mr. Sherm's daily lessons. Luke was drawing circles. Clyde the gligar was dozing off in the back. Alice the hoppip couldn't stop noticing this funny scar on the back of Seamus the snubbull's head. Cortez sat there, only half paying attention. He knew Mr. Sherm was a serious guy with serious knowledge that he wanted to learn, but he was so sleepy.

"Intelligence and wisdom need to intertwine with each other. Sure, you know how to knock out a rattata in a forest dungeon. But do you know how to… GLIGAR!"

Clyde's head bounced up, with his eyes widening. Mr. Sherm took notice of his dozing.

"I'd like you to tell me the difference between wisdom and intelligence!" He barked.

Clyde looked around the room with everyone staring at him.

"Uh… I mean, they're pretty similar, right?" Clyde offered.

Cortez faced palmed. He just got done talking about it.

"I'd pay more attention if I were you, young gligar. That attitude of yours will drop you out of this class faster than anything."

Mr. Sherm didn't bother giving him the correct answer. That was information he just lost out on. Mr. Sherm was unforgiving. Keep up, or get left behind.

"You need to look at your surroundings at a different level. Analyze your available resources. Apply what wisdom you have to your new intelligence."

Mr. Sherm continued on to talk about the properties of oran berries, and their usefulness other than eating them.

"Oran berry juice mixed with this certain concoction gives you a boosted attack…" He pointed to his drawn out diagrams on the board.

Cortez had copied most of it down to study for later. Mr. Sherm erased his board, drew up a new chart, and explained important crafting properties.

"…so if this blends correctly, and I add the cheri berry, I get what effect from this brew?" He eyed the class, looking for an answer.

Travino raised his hand. "Mudkip", Mr. Sherm shouted, pointing at him.

"That would yield a potion of paralysis, 17 seconds…"

"Exactly!" It wasn't much, but the only way Mr. Sherm expressed happiness was a slight raise in his tone.

"Write this down, students. These brewing charts _will_ be on the test!" After everyone was done copying, he erased what he had written.

"Alright class. We are doing our first outside activity", Mr. Sherm announced halfheartedly. The class immediately perked up.

"What are we doing?" Bravo the blitzle asked.

"As stressful as this is for me, we are going out to a mystery dungeon to brew a potion." Mr. Sherm had a big stack of 10 inch by 10 inch papers. "I want one member from each of your assigned teams to come up and grab a sheet from me. Let's start with Team Fairblade."

Bravo went up. Mr. Sherm pulled a random piece of paper from the pile and gave it to him. "Have your team look it over. It's what you'll be brewing", he mentioned.

Coraline and Adam the sunkern joined Bravo in looking over the paper.

"Team Soar!" Luke went up and grabbed a sheet.

"Flowerpuff!" Floyd the machop went up. When he approached the desk, Mr. Sherm stared at him for a bit.

"You're in a team called Flowerpuff?" He asked.

"Yeah", Floyd said with humiliation. "I'm with Nancy and Alice."

"Take the paper." Mr. Sherm offered.

Murdock the timburr was dying of laughter seeing his friend ridiculed.

"Next is… Nexus."

Since Cortez was in the front, he was the one to grab it. He studied the paper. It was a brewing chart for making a potion of dizziness. Several items circled the round grid of the potion. The brewing charts followed a universal format that was easy to understand once you knew what the different positions of the items meant.

Mr. Sherm finished off with Varien and Mudwave. He explained that all the ingredients found on their specific charts could be found in the dungeon he was taking them to.

"The dungeon will already be cleared out by some stronger guild members, so there will be no ferals in it when we arrive. You will be required to find the ingredients to your specific potion and craft it from scratch. You must rely on your teammates to get it done. If your team can't brew the potion, you fail."

Cortez gulped hard. What if somehow there wasn't the specific berry he needed? What if he couldn't find that one seed? It wouldn't be his fault, but would Mr. Sherm even care?

The class of students followed Mr. Sherm out of the guild, and into the streets of Scarland City. After telling several merchants to 'piss off, this is a guild class', they made it to the backside of the city, where they were on the other side of Scar Mountain.

"Here's the dungeon, Scarland Woods. It's been cleared out, so don't fret. If you happen to see the stairs, don't go near them. I have a pokemon guarding the stairs anyways, because I feel like someone here might get a stupid idea." Mr. Sherm explained.

"No! I can't do this!" A frightened Alice yelled. Nancy tried her best to calm her down. "I've never been in a dungeon!"

After practically carrying the hoppip into the entrance, they were in. Half the pokemon were shaking in fear, but Cortez thought the place was easier than anything else he had been in yet.

"Teams, go forth and make your potions. If anything goes wrong, _you must immediately get me._ " Mr. Sherm ended.

Cortez's team walked a hallway. "Wow, so this is what a mystery dungeon looks like", Anna said in awe. She was shocked how the trees, branches, and bushes made walls around a deep dirt path that turned left and right every several feet.

"Did someone make this?" Anna asked.

"Nature", Cortez suggested. "What's crazy is, if everyone left the dungeon and went back in, the floors and halls would be rearranged differently."

Anna was so shocked at the moment; she'd believe anything Cortez said.

"So what's the first ingredient", Sharp started, trying to be helpful.

Everyone looked over the paper Cortez was holding.

"Well, we're making a potion of dizziness I guess. We need the husk of a persim berry, 3 blueroot vines, and that's a… what's that again?" Cortez asked.

"That's spruce leaves…" Anna replied, explaining the shape of the leaf.

"That gets brewed for 2 minutes?"

"No, look at this line, it goes over here!"

"Wait, so if it's in the third circle, that means it's made first?"

"No, that means it's made last."

"Oh, right…"

The chart was complicated, but the position of the items, the symbols by them, and what ring they were in, explained exactly how it was made.

They searched for a while, looking for the proper items. Sharp picked a few spruce leaves. Anna found the blueroot vines. All they had left to find was a persim berry.

"I think persim berries are slightly harder to find than the other stuff", Cortez explained. "We should split up and look for the berry."

"I think that would be best", Sharp added. "Triple the searching power!"

Team Nexus split up and started hunting for their specific berry. As Cortez wondered about, he found other teams and pokemon looking about too, some looking a tad frantic. He was glad that his team wasn't the only one that had to make an effort to search for their items. After a few minutes of travelling up and down the dungeon halls, Cortez ran into Team Varien.

They didn't look like they were doing too good.

"Ay, Cortez!" Clyde shouted out.

Cortez rolled his eyes. He did not want to be dealing with them right now. He had his own agenda.

Clyde had his chart in his hands, and it looked like none of his team members had any idea what was going on. He walked over to Cortez.

"I can't make heads or tails with any of this, can you help us?"

Cortez didn't feel like he had the time to help out a team that had made fun of them earlier.

"Have your team members help you", Cortez offered.

"We don't know either!" Seamus let out, something that came as no shock to Cortez.

Clyde nearly shoved the chart in Cortez's face. "Help us now man!" He demanded.

"You shouldn't have fallen asleep in class Clyde. I gotta go!" Cortez yelled, dashing away.

"What the hell Cortez!" Cortez heard from behind him as he travelled down the hallway.

Did Cortez feel bad he didn't help Varien? Maybe a little. But Cortez wasn't about to sacrifice any time, he had to accomplish his own mission. Besides, if Team Varien wasn't paying attention in class, he had no obligation to carry them through. They had to solve their own problems.

Time proved to be more valuable than ever when 10 minutes passed and no one in Team Nexus had found a persim berry. The three of them met up after having no luck.

"No one has found it yet?" Cortez shouted out angrily. He put his hands over his head. "This is really bad…"

"We're trying our best, Cortez!" Sharp replied.

"There's not one anywhere", Anna added, starting to get anxious.

Cortez closed his eyes, and thought for a second. _None of my teammates are having any luck either. What are the chances?_

"Alright, hold on", Cortez said. He looked at the brew chart. "Look, we smash these two plants into two cups of water first, and let it sit for 5 minutes. While it's sitting, we can keep looking for the berry. We don't even need it until the end!"

"Okay, okay… where's the beaker?" Anna asked, trying to calm herself down.

"Here it is!" Sharp exclaimed.

They broke apart the vines and leaves into the beaker, and filled it up with two cups of water from the pond close by. Cortez stirred it up a bit, the liquid becoming green.

"Good, there's the base", Anna explained.

Suddenly, the team came across Team Fairblade finishing their potion.

"Look how blue it is!" Bravo declared, impressed that he made it.

"What is it?" Sharp asked.

"It's a potion of sleepiness! I think we brewed it correctly!" Coraline said.

"You found all your ingredients okay?" Anna asked.

"Yes! Found them pretty quick, too!"

"If you see a persim berry, let us know!" Cortez said.

"We will!"

Team Nexus wasn't doing very well. The time for the base of the potion to sit was nearly over, and they still had no luck. They passed other teams who were making progress with their potions. As they circled around the dungeon several times, they passed Mr. Sherm who was supervising at the entrance.

"Mr. Sherm!" Anna finally gave in. "We can't find a persim berry anywhere!"

"Calm down, now", Mr. Sherm gestured. "A mystery dungeon is constantly spawning new items, you'll find one eventually, just keep looking."

"What if we never find one?" Anna continued.

"Then you're not looking hard enough! Get to it, fennekin!"

Poor Anna wasn't doing too well. She wanted to really pass all of the lessons, and on the first activity she might fail.

"Let's split up again. Shout if you find one!" Cortez offered.

Cortez was sure this couldn't be fair. He knew his whole team knew what a persim berry looked like, and it wasn't his fault they hadn't come across one. Why did this have to happen to his team?

He checked room after room, corner after corner. He had pretty much seen every item that could spawn in a forest dungeon, except for a persim berry. Would Mr. Sherm understand if they never found one? Or would he think that there was one there, and they just hadn't looked hard enough to find it?

His thought process was interrupted when he heard Anna shout out from the distance.

My god, was that what he thought it was?

Cortez turned around and found Anna in an empty dungeon room, with a pink persim berry held high. Cortez's heart skipped a beat, and so much relief overcame him.

"Thank Arceus!" He cried out. "Where's Sharp? He has the base potion to finish this!"

Suddenly a familiar clanging of metal could be heard as Sharp sprinted in.

"I… Heard… The signal…" Sharp painted, out of breath. "Whew, I was clear across the other end of the dungeon, I came running immediately", he gasped.

"The base Sharp! Where's the base?!" Cortez demanded.

Sharp held it out for him. As Cortez took it, Sharp fell over on the ground in exhaustion.

Cortez eyed the potion base, checking that it was still alright. It seemed fine.

When he looked up, ready to ask Anna for the berry, he saw Team Varien creeping up behind her.

"Hey!" Cortez exclaimed. Before Anna could notice what was happening, Clyde plucked the berry out of Anna's grasp.

"Aha!" Clyde announced, holding the berry in his claw high above everyone else. "This is the precious item you were looking for!"

Sharp was off the ground, Cortez had his fists squeezed. He knew Varien was here to mess things up, and he'd be damned if he let them do that.

"Clyde, what are you doing?!" Cortez demanded.

"If we can't finish our potion, neither will you!" Clyde shouted.

Cortez couldn't believe someone in a guild could be so malicious. Here Clyde was, unable to finish his potion, so he had to make sure someone else couldn't finish either.

"Give it back!" Anna cried out.

"Sorry toots! But selfish Corty here couldn't even look at our chart and give us pointers, so we will make sure he doesn't finish!" Murdock the timburr explained.

Cortez's blood was practically boiling at this point.

"Clyde, if you don't give back that berry, _you'll be sorry!_ " Cortez said, walking towards him.

"Oh really?!" Clyde retorted. "I'd like to see you do something!"

Then Cortez couldn't believe it. Right in front of everyone, Clyde brought the berry down to his mouth, and took a huge chomp out of it.

"What the fuck!" Cortez yelled, instantly tackling Clyde over.

Then it had begun.

Clyde quickly recovered, and delivered a massive blow across Cortez's head. It rendered him dizzy. With blurry vision, he saw Anna crying. He also made out Sharp going in for an attack, but Murdock slammed him down with a mach punch. He could hear Clyde's awful, mocking laugh.

He fought the dizziness. He stood up, and charged an electric attack. Instantly, he casted a large thunderbolt that hit Clyde. He winced a bit, but wasn't even hurt.

"You fucking suck, dude. Just like the rest of your trash team", Clyde taunted. He lurched forward, and swung his claw across Cortez again, slamming him to the ground. Cortez was in such immense pain; he couldn't even move. "You'll never be a decent explorer!" He finished off by kicking Cortez, which made him rollover a bit. The stinging pain was overwhelming. Clyde was certainly the strongest thing Cortez had ever fought. And for being about his age, he was tough. He didn't stand a chance to him. He couldn't defend himself. He really was weak.

"Let's book it!" Clyde declared to his team. They left the area instantly. Cortez could barely move. His whole body was on fire with pain. He saw Sharp get up, who was completely rattled by a single punch.

Anna had come over to help Cortez.

"Are you okay?" She asked, teary-eyed.

He wasn't okay. The pain was leaving, but leaving too slowly. He looked to the floor. Cortez managed to point at the half eaten berry that remained.

"Get it…", Cortez muttered weakly. "Finish the potion." Anna ran after what was left, but it wasn't much.

Sharp still had the beaker he had sat down, which remained intact. It, however, had sat out longer than the time it was supposed to. They wondered if it would affect the potion in anyway.

"There's barely any husk left!" Anna exclaimed.

"Use it!" Cortez yelled back, just now starting to stand up. He was so pissed.

He walked over to the potion. Anna had just dropped the berry in, and the potion wasn't looking too promising. Cortez couldn't believe Varien had gotten away with this.

"God damn it Anna! If you would've been paying attention he wouldn't have taken it!" Cortez yelled.

"I'm sorry! He snuck up on me!" She pleaded back.

"You can't let people sneak up on you!" Cortez shook his head. "Never mind that, where were you guys in the middle of that fight!? Sharp just fell over, you stood there just crying! I took the brute force of the punishment!"

His team members didn't reply. Cortez sighed.

"I would've been better off on my own. You two have no idea what you've gotten into." Cortez shook the potion a bit until its color changed to pink.

They had spent so much time trying to make the potion work, that they had noticed no other teams were around.

"I think we're late…" Sharp said. When they made it back to the dungeon entrance, Sharp was confirmed right.

"Very late!" Mr. Sherm snapped, when he finally saw them. The whole class got quiet. "Most very late!"

"Mr. Sherm! We found the persim berry and Team Var", Anna started quickly.

"I don't want ANY excuses!" Mr. Sherm interrupted. "Where is your potion?!" He demanded.

Sharp held it up weakly. Mr. Sherm looked at it with disappointment.

"Let's try it out! And I'm taking points off for your tardiness." Cortez badly wanted to yell that it wasn't their fault, but knew not to cross the teacher at this time.

Mr. Sherm flipped open a book. He recited an incantation quickly. The book glowed, and a feral rattata spawned in front of them. Cortez jumped a bit upon looking at it, but it didn't move.

"Slam the potion on the ground by the rattata!" Mr. Sherm ordered. Sharp did as he was told. He threw the potion down at the mouse. It barely reacted.

"WEAK! Your potion did hardly anything! It was not brewed correctly! Failure!" He shouted out.

Cortez tried to talk to him. "Team Varien took- "

"FAILURE!" He bellowed sharply.

The room was tense. The class felt awkward, besides Team Varien, who were happy with what they did. Team Nexus cowered down to Mr. Sherm's harsh yelling.

Mr. Sherm turned back to the students. "We're returning to the classroom. We will go over the results of everyone's potion effects."

For the rest of the day, Cortez was pissed. He was so upset, not only at Team Varien, but at Mr. Sherm for acting so irrationally. He wouldn't even listen to a word he had to say. He thought of him to be so stuck up. When they got back to the classroom, his team found out that everyone else's potions got tested in front of the class, without them. The other students talked about how Team Fairblade's sleep potion got their rattata to sleep, or how Team Mudwave's potion made the rattata paralyzed.

Mr. Sherm went over the effects, and how memorizing these ingredients can make you craft potions constantly. Cortez badly wanted to sock Seamus, who was sitting by him, in the face, but no one dared to move more than a muscle when Mr. Sherm was in the middle of his lecture.

"You will be tested over the symbols and positions of the graphs soon. So memorize what they mean!"

Mr. Sherm finished off with talking about small flaws he noticed in everyone's potions. Bravo stirred his slightly incorrectly, resulting in a weaker sleep potion. Luke had sneezed hard when gathering the ingredients, and the heat from the sneeze caused his roots to activate prematurely. It resulted in a weakened poison effect.

"Precision is key to the most effective potion. Even the slightest, unaware actions can dull the potion down. Skilled brewers know to keep their actions controlled, and that will be an important thing to learn down the line!" Mr. Sherm looked at the time. He sighed.

"Alright. I'm done then. Be on your way. And study those charts! Look at your notes!" Everyone got up to leave.

"Team Nexus, you're staying!" Cortez had a rush of fear and anxiety overcome his body. He knew this was it. He was going to be expelled from the guild. What's worse, was it wasn't even his fault. Everyone left the room. He caught Clyde and Murdock smirking at them as they left. Soon, it was only Anna, Sharp, Cortez, and Mr. Sherm in the room.

"Shut the door for me, pawniard", Mr. Sherm commanded. Sharp went over, gently shut the door, and came back. Mr. Sherm sat at his desk, with the 3 students standing before him. Cortez hadn't been so up close to him before. He noticed the imperfections on his body. His white crest contained streaks of gray, his eyes were very baggy. His beak was scared and crooked. He looked old. He looked tired. He looked like he should've retired a while ago, but was forcing himself to still teach.

"What the hell happened back there?" He asked.

No one said anything right away. They were scared the first syllable they uttered would be butchered.

"You showed up late. The helioptile here is covered in bruises. Your potion only had a small portion of the persim berry, and the base sat out for too long! I want to know what went on that no one got me about."

Still, no one answered him. His yelling back at that mystery dungeon taught them a few things.

"Answer me!" Mr. Sherm shouted.

"It was Team Varien", Cortez started. It felt so good that he could finally talk to his teacher. "We found a persim berry at the end. But Clyde… ate it."

"He _ate_ it?!" Mr. Sherm demanded. He was finding the story hard to believe. "How did he get it from you?"

"He snuck up behind me, and took it out of my hands", Anna replied.

"Just plucked it right from you, and ate it… Why would he want to do that?" Mr. Sherm asked.

No one answered right away.

"I don't know", Anna continued. "They haven't liked us since we first met them in the dojo. They couldn't complete their potion, and I guess they didn't want us succeeding either."

"On contrary, they _did_ complete their potion, and it was a good one at that!" Mr. Sherm added.

Cortez couldn't believe what he heard. They had actually finished? They needed help, though... They must've gotten help from another team, or they somehow figured it out themselves.

"So basically they did that just because they don't like you?" Mr. Sherm summed up.

"Well", Cortez started. Everyone looked at him. "They had… asked me for help on how to make the potion, and I didn't give it to them. Clyde ate our berry because I refused to help them."

Mr. Sherm was disappointed. He shook his head. He then stood up, and started closing some books on his table.

"It's my policy not to get in the middle of these trivial quarrels. You need to learn to behave. I'm not sure what beef you have with each other, but whatever it is, you need to sort it out, and get over it. I'm done with you. Off you go."

"But sir, this isn't our faults!" Anna started.

"I said GO! I'll take note of what happened, and that's the end of that!" Mr. Sherm hissed. Team Nexus filed out of the classroom.

When they were out of the classroom, Anna had some choice words.

"What the hell Cortez?! They asked for help and you didn't give it to them? So you're the reason why they attacked us! Then you took it out on me and Sharp like it was our fault! Honestly Cortez, I thought you were a nice guy, but you can be a jerk just like Team Varien. Maybe you're right. Maybe I don't belong here as an explorer! I never knew becoming an explorer could be so stressful…" She stormed away before giving anyone else a chance to talk.

It left only Sharp with him. Cortez was so disappointed in himself. Anna was really nice. She was sweet, and caring. She wanted to help out her team as much as she could, and he was so mean. It really was his fault; and he was so mad that he had taken it out on his own team. Cortez had always thought he was just out for the loot, fame, and being popular, but he was starting to realize what a jerk that would make him. What really mattered, as he was told by both Omex and Mr. Sherm, was that it was your team that made you successful, not yourself or your own ambitions.

Cortez was very upset.

Sharp stood there a bit, thinking in the silence. He scratched his head a bit. "What say you?" He finally asked.

Cortez sighed and shook his head. "Fuck this shit."

He spent the rest of the time alone. He let Sharp know that he wanted to walk around alone for a while. Sharp understood, and caught up with Luke, or had just become decent friends with Bravo the blitzle, and the really shy sunkern named Adam.

Cortez spent the next hour walking about the halls, rethinking everything. He also wanted to get back at Team Varien for what they did, but had absolutely no idea how to do that. The gloomy helioptile passed several pokemon that walked down the hall. He accidentally stumbled back in the library.

The library. That was a good place to think. It was quiet, peaceful, and no one would disturb him. He entered the massive book filled room.

It didn't take him long to find that one book he was reading earlier again. 'A Beginner's Guide to Electricity Generation and Exudation, Second Edition'. Maybe this would help get his mind off of how rude he had been. Maybe if he really focused, he could actually learn a thing or two from the book, and zap Team Varien to oblivion.

Yes, it was still as boring as ever. As he tried his best to focus on the words. He sat in the back corner in the library by himself, and not where the tables were in the center. A while passed. Could've been 20 minutes, but he had finished several pages.

His concentration broke when a book floated over his head, and onto a shelf. He looked up to see Samirah again. The head librarian was simply filing books away. She didn't bother to notice Cortez until she felt him looking at her.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did that floating book break your focus? I sure hate it when my focus is broken." Great. That made Cortez remember when he bothered her the other day when she was reading.

"No, it's okay. I'm not even sure I'm picking up what this book is saying", Cortez explained. He put his head back down into the book. He could still feel Samirah's gaze on him. It didn't leave. He looked back up at her.

"Are you alright?" She asked.

How could she tell? Cortez was sure he didn't look bummed out. Maybe he sucked at hiding it.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine", Cortez lied.

Nope, it wasn't enough. She wasn't convinced. She walked up to him.

"Something's bothering you", she now declared. "You should talk about it. You know, I'm also the unofficial guild councilor."

He knew that he wouldn't be able to just shoo her away; and if he could, he didn't want to be rude. He sighed.

"I'm having team problems."

Samirah crossed her legs and floated in the air.

"You're split between your own agenda and helping out others", she stated.

Wow, she was good at this.

"Something like that. You know, I wanted to be cool. I wanted to be strong, and take nothing from nobody, like Omex!" He remembered she acted weird around Omex. "But now, it's like… Is that really important? Should I actually put more effort into my team than myself? I don't think that would make me stronger…"

"Your strength comes _from_ your team, not from you. I… hate using Omex as an example, but when he was still in his team, he was a far better person in every way. Ever since they broke up, he's fallen off", she explained.

Cortez thought she might not have known that something terrible happened to Omex, Bergis and Arno that no one virtually knew about.

"I don't think that's a good example", she took back. "But in the end, your dedication should be for your team members, and not just bettering yourself…"

It was silent for a moment. Samirah's gaze was more than just a gaze. It was like she could read his mind.

"You know", she started again. "You don't have to be strong to be a good explorer. I can tell how much strength and power mean to you, but sometimes that comes in other forms, like being smart. Being wise and intelligent can be far more useful than strong lightning bolts…"

Cortez didn't like hearing any of this, but couldn't deny that it was true.

"If you're having problems with your team, you should make amends with them, and really pledge your loyalty, above all else. Your team comes before anything else, even yourself." Samirah continued.

"Okay", was all Cortez could muster.

She uncrossed her legs, and physically stood. It was an indication she was wrapping up.

"Thanks", Cortez added.

"Good luck to you. I hope you get your problems sorted out." She then returned to her cart of books, and left the isle.

Cortez had to sit there for a moment and process everything she said. He looked down at his book, which he didn't care to read anymore. He knew what he had to. Get Anna to forgive him. He didn't just want to say he was sorry, he wanted to get her something she'd like. Since she was a fire type, she would really like red gummis, he guessed.

Tsk. Gummis were a luxury, and they sure were expensive. He couldn't afford one. He barely picked up more than a few pokecoins when coming to Scarland City with Omex. Then he remembered he had a pecha scarf he found. It was a rare item, and maybe he could trade it at a kecleon shop for one.

It was decided. Cortez left the library quickly, ran down the hall, and made it outside the crowded guild entrance. The sun shone brightly on the tall stone buildings. Pokemon polluted the streets and sidewalks. He had no idea where the kecleon shop was in the area.

He managed to come across a bruxish that pointed him in the right direction.

"Down that road and to the left!" She pointed.

He scurried along the road, avoiding anyone he saw. You weren't allowed to leave the guild if you were an active student, a rule that was flimsily enforced. When he cut a left, the familiar kecleon shop could be seen. All of them looked the same, and it reminded him of his home at Spira Town.

He entered the small shack, where an eelektross and a yanma were doing business. He had to wait a bit until they were done. When they finally finished, the eelektross turned around and looked at Cortez.

"What a cute helioptile!" She exclaimed.

"Thanks, ma'am", he offered back.

"What can I do for ya, sport?" The kecleon asked.

"I'm here to buy something. I need a red gummi", Cortez stated.

"Specifically red?" He checked his stock in the back. When he came back, he had a smile on. "Your lucky day, we have one left. That will be 800 pokecoins!"

"I was hoping for a trade…" Cortez said.

The kecleon fell short a bit.

"What might you have of equal value?"

Cortez pulled out his beloved pecha scarf, his first rare, and favorite item.

"Okay, a pecha scarf", he declared. He looked it over. He pulled it tight to a snap. "It's pretty new…"

"What do you say?" Cortez pushed.

"…Sure kid. Just cause there's something about you I like. You eatin' that gummi?"

"No, it's a gift…"

"I'm sure they'll be happy."

Cortez watched as his scarf became someone else's possession. The kecleon hung it up for sale. When Cortez got back to the guild, he started to look for Anna. Instead of finding her first, he found Luke and Sharp.

"Hey Corty! Done being anti-social?" Luke joked.

"Where's Anna?" He demanded.

"Uh, well, I'm not sure…" Luke said back.

Together the three checked everywhere for her. They first tried the library, since they saw her there before, but she wasn't there. Next, they tried the dojo. No one there had seen her. Cafeteria? Not there either.

Eventually they came across Coraline.

"Hey Coraline, have you seen Anna around?" Cortez asked the mime jr. desperately.

Coraline looked really upset. "Anna… just quit… a few moments ago. She left the guild…"

"She WHAT?!" Cortez yelled.

"Yeah…" She sniffled. "She said being an explorer was too stressful for her. Honestly, I don't blame her."

Cortez broke into a sprint. He had to find her. He couldn't let this go. Luke and Sharp blasted after him, but they couldn't keep up.

What Cortez didn't have in strength, he certainly made up in speed.

He ran out the guild doors for the second time.

"Anna!" He cried out into the crowd. It seemed pointless.

"Has anyone seen a fennekin pass by?!" He yelled out.

"A fennekin?" A chimecho asked from the side of the entrance.

"Yes, a fennekin! Have you seen one go by?" Cortez asked desperately. Luke and Sharp caught up to him.

"Yes, just a minute ago… She looked awfully upset. Travelled up that road."

Cortez was off again. He didn't bother waiting up for Luke and Sharp. After running down the road for a while, he finally saw her. There was a fennekin just about to turn into a building.

"ANNA!" He shouted. She quickly jumped and turned around. "Cortez?!"

Cortez tripped right in front of her, scuffing his knees a bit.

"Anna, look, I'm SO sorry!"

"What are you doing here Cortez?!" She wasn't happy at all. Her tone was very hurt.

"Please come back to the guild! I'm sorry I haven't supported the team – or you. I've been a jerk. I've only cared about myself!"

She took a big sigh of pity. "Look, Cortez… I… I accept your apology. But it's not just you. It's Mr. Sherm. It's Team Varien. It's the stress of a combination of things…"

"That's where we need each other, Team Nexus needs to rely on itself to make it through the storm! I want to support our team. We need to get through this and come out stronger! I can only get stronger if I put my effort into my team, and not just myself!" Cortez pulled out the red gummi he bought.

"I bought this for you", he said.

She gasped. "Cortez!"

"It's a sign to show how sorry I am. Please come back. Let's be a team…" Cortez looked really desperate at the moment.

Anna started to tear up. "Okay… Okay, I will!" She ran up and gave him a tight hug. He felt her soft, warm fur wrap around him.

Cortez had never felt better in his entire life. Something new had been opened in him.

"Do you have a hanky?" Luke asked Sharp.

Sharp sniffled. "I've never seen anything so nice…"

"You didn't have to buy me a gummi, Cortez…" she said sweetly.

"I wanted to. Please enjoy it." He handed her the gummi.

"Let's split it", she offered.

"No, really. I actually don't like red gummis", Cortez lied.

"I LOVE 'em!" Sharp yelled.

She decided to split it with Sharp, since he was a part of the team as well.

"Don't let me miss you out, Sharp. You're just as important. You have my full loyalty, too!" Cortez stated.

"Well that's a gold hat, cool cat!" Sharp said back in his own, odd way.

"Guys, we really should get back to the guild soon", Luke declared. The sun was nearing the horizon. "I think it's almost dinner!"

The four students of Scarland City Guild made their way back to the building. By the end of the day, Cortez's ideals had been totally turned around. He was now more excited and determined than ever to get through the 6-month training period to become official explorers. He was proud of his team members, and even though Luke wasn't on his team, he was proud of him too, just for the hell of being proud of people.

Man if Omex could see him now! Omex… What was Omex doing at the moment? Cortez wondered.

* * *

 **I'd like to thank Ralmon for giving me some assistance in rewriting this.  
**


	11. Pain of Corruption

At some time in the middle of the night, Bergis laid asleep on his couch. His body was sprawled out on the dirty, tore up sofa. He had tried his best to stay awake, waiting for a visitor he had asked to come see him.

It was the first night in a while that Scarland City had rain. It was more than rain, however. Powerful winds attacked the stone towers of the city. Every few minutes the city would be lit up by bright lightning, having an equally impressive loud roar of thunder follow.

Crack! The thunder shook the small shack of the old Madcrack HQ. Bergis's eyes flicked upon after a slight jump. _Of all nights, why this one?_ He thought. Bergis was upset with himself for dozing off earlier, but looking at the time, he realized he wasn't out for too long.

He stood up from the couch, instantly realizing the pain in his back. Bergis was getting old, that was for sure.

 _It shouldn't be too much longer,_ he grumbled in his mind. Days ago, when meeting up with Omex for the first time in nearly ten years, something about him had really changed, and it wasn't good. Bergis had sensed this, and called on someone he knew years ago to talk with.

Bergis had played Omex's devastating plans off as 'simply psychotic', but hid from him his true concern of what he would be doing. Someone had to stop him, and there was no way Bergis could stop Omex. He was always the strongest in the group – even stronger than Arno. Bergis knew however, someone that might be of help.

It wasn't too much longer until that knock landed on his splintered, wooden door. The vibration of the knock seemed to shake the whole shack, but maybe that was just Bergis's imagination.

He was a bit nervous – he hadn't seen this pokemon in years, and almost everyone who knew him, knew of his combined strength and wisdom. Without hesitation, Bergis started for the door. He broke into a nervous sweat as he grabbed the door handle.

The door swung open. Bergis's heart skipped a beat as he saw the shadowy figure of the pokemon. It wore brown, leather robes that were soaked in the rain. They were thick, and layered several times. The pokemon had a leather hood over his head, which completely blackened out his face.

It was almost like this pokemon had absolutely no intention of anyone knowing who he was.

"T-thanks for coming so soon… Please, come in", Bergis gestured. He extended his leaf hand into the run down house.

The cloaked pokemon gathered his strength and entered the large room. His movements immediately told Bergis that this pokemon was certainly past his time. He moved slowly in such a manner that might've suggested he met with an injury recently. In the pokemon's right hand was a long wooden staff that was the same on either the top or bottom.

It was apparent how much the mysterious pokemon relied on it, as with every other step he took, the wood pole met the ground in an uneasy stomp. The pokemon had a terrible hunch, and his back was slouched over. His tired demeanor shown he had been out on the move for quite some time, trying to accomplish something.

Bergis had the shack lit up with candles, it wasn't much, but he had a hard time affording electricity, only saving it for his computer or TV when he used it every once in a while. The few large candles that were lit spread some light on the cloaked pokemon. His leather robes and hood had an outline of elder glyphs engraved, signaling their rarity, and suggested where they might've come from.

This pokemon looked about the room, eyeing the mess that Bergis had cared less about cleaning up.

"Sorry for the mess", Bergis followed with. He ran to a wooden chair and grabbed an uneven stack of paper sitting on it, along with sweeping some dust off of it, on to the floor.

"Please have a seat", He offered. The pokemon approached the chair, and planted himself into it. Drops of water rolled off his leather robes, and collected on the wooden floor. Bergis sat on his couch on the opposing side of the room. A coffee table full of trash sat in the middle of the two.

The old pokemon didn't say anything. Bergis didn't start either, he wondered what he was thinking. Bergis looked up to see two red twinkles shine through the darkness of the hood. He was just staring at him.

"Umm… again, thanks for coming on short notice…" Bergis said. He knew had said something like that before, and was upset that he said it again.

"This place is a mess, Bergis", the pokemon finally said. His voice was flat, a bit more than a whisper. It seemed sore and taut.

"A shadow of what it used to be. Of what you used to be…" He added.

Bergis looked down and scratched the back of his head. He kind of expected this. This pokemon had high expectations of team Madcrack, and years later he was more than disappointed at what he was looking at.

"Well, shi-… things happen", Bergis explained. He caught himself about to swear, but stopped. Bergis wasn't always the potty-mouth he had become. And this pokemon knew him from long ago.

"Things I specifically warned you against", the pokemon uttered.

Bergis didn't fancy a lecturing at the moment. A roll of thunder boomed.

"Look, I wanted to talk to you about Omex. There's something really bad going on with him…" Bergis started.

The old pokemon let his staff go. It eerily stood there, not falling over. It was playing with Bergis's mind some.

"What has Arno been doing?" he replied. Bergis returned a sigh. This was going to be harder than he thought.

"I guess I should probably start with that…" Bergis uneasily said. No one had known about what happened with Arno except him and Omex.

"It started at the tomb…" Bergis took a while to explain everything that happened. As Bergis told his story, the pokemon in the chair never moved a muscle. The whole time, the pokemon's glowing red eyes shown through the hood and rested upon Bergis, making him very uncomfortable. This was the first time Bergis had let his memories run out of his mouth in a decade. As he told his story, Bergis started to have uncomfortable visions of what happened.

Every once in a while he would stop and pet his white mane, asking for a moment. It was very hard for him to tell the story in detail. His body jittered at the thoughts of what happened.

He finished everything he had to say, ending with the insane plan Omex was moving forward with. After he was done talking, Bergis closed his eyes and put his head down. He was mentally and emotionally tired from the story.

The strange pokemon didn't respond right away. Bergis squinted his eyes shut in darkness and silence. He wanted comfort, and a reply that would help him cope. The pokemon's response minutes later did not help.

"You've made a terrible mistake."

The words echoed in Bergis's mind, haunting him. His actions had brought one of the most unfortunate events that had ever happened. He started to realize how bad Omex was feeling, knowing that most of it was his fault.

Bergis opened his eyes and looked at the pokemon. The red, judging eyes burned his mind.

"You got to help me!" Bergis cried out. "You've got to help Omex! He's following a path of no return!"

No response right away. It was infuriating Bergis that he wouldn't give an answer back right away, instead making him sit and think of his actions.

Finally, he started.

"Omex is trying to pursue a solution to his problems. He is trying to remedy his mental and emotional pain… What he doesn't realize, is these tormenting replays of his past aren't from his guilt, but are from a demonic source."

Bergis couldn't believe what he was hearing. What was he trying to say? That there was other motivation behind Omex's actions?

"What are you talking about?!" Bergis demanded.

"There's an ancient evil that dwells within the Isolated Tomb. It is trying to free itself once again. It has latched onto Omex's mind and is making him carry out this demon's deeds."

The pokemon sat up in his chair, leaning on his arms on his knees. It was the first time the pokemon had moved an inch since he sat in the chair.

"It's a demon that was defeated years ago in a tale where a human turned into a pokemon. It pursues a world of darkness. Omex must be stopped from carrying this plan he told you about. It will bring him no relief to his suffering. Instead, the result will be the freeing of this evil."

"Are you serious?!" Bergis choked. "We have to do something!" Bergis knew he himself couldn't stop Omex. He also noticed his visitor was a little worn for ware. He doubted if Omex at all could be stopped.

"Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Bergis", he softly said. "If this wasn't caught early on, it may have become unstoppable." The pokemon got up out of his chair. His staff floated into his hand.

"My condolences for Arno. He was the greatest grumpig I had ever known. It's a damn shame what happened to him over your team's ambitions…" The pokemon was showing himself to the door.

Bergis couldn't believe it. All his life, all the time in his team, they had always vowed to help pokemon out and never become selfish. But Omex had convinced them to go on this terrible mission. He had no words about it; just regret and guilt. He looked at his visitor beginning to leave.

"What's going to happen? What are you going to do?" Bergis asked.

The pokemon stopped with the door open. He consistently faced the outside.

"I have some errands to run. Some people to talk to. I must make haste; time is the utmost important essence."

Bergis doubted the capability of the pokemon. He was very old – older than _any_ normal pokemon was allowed to live for… If it was really him. The mysterious pokemon had never actually _proved_ his identity.

"Will you be okay?" Bergis added.

"… I mustn't fail."

It wasn't a straight forward answer. The pokemon showed doubt in what he said. Immediately after his words, the pokemon disappeared, closing the door behind him.

Bergis sat alone, stunned in his chair. What was going to happen?

Miles and miles away, and several days later, Omex had approached the Grandom Line. It wasn't difficult to get over, as he had done it before, but it was a sign that he was moving at a great pace.

It had been 4 days since he left Cortez and Luke at Scarland City. The journey had been rough, mostly because he refused to stop for anything other than a slight rest every once in a while. He had somewhere to go; something to do. The many mystery dungeons that he had to cross seemed easier than ever to him. Either those dungeons were growing weak, or he was getting stronger again. He wasn't sure.

Mystery dungeons only got so strong on the overworld. If you could take on the roughest mountain dungeon, you could travel the overworld freely with no problems. That was just the overworld, though. Omex seemed to have them pat down.

Omex eyed the roaring waters below the cliff. It was a line that split two oceans apart, one that drained into another. There was once a bridge that crossed the dangerous gap where he was standing, but it was long gone, only to be replaced with the remnants that still remained.

 _I guess this will take a little effort to get over now,_ he thought to himself. He remembered the time his team crossed the unstable bridge. Arno's weight nearly brought it down alone.

He could get over the Grandom Line without the bridge, he was sure. He just had to figure out _how._

The roaring waters far below filled his ears, drowning out any other noise. He swore the gap had gotten deeper, probably due to water erosion. Climbing down there and getting up the other side wasn't going to be an option. The gap was also far too wide to jump, even with his psychic power.

Xatus weren't made for flying, either. Their wings were stiff and hard, and even if he could get height by flapping them, he hadn't done such a lucrative task in ages.

He decided the best course of action would be to build a makeshift bridge. He looked at the forest behind him. Just a few of those trees would work. Omex's eyes glowed purple, and he used his psychic power to uproot the trees. They floated over to the cliff, one by one, as they interlaced to form a bridge.

 _This is going way better than I thought it would._ Omex knew now this was no coincidence, his psychic power _was_ increasing. Maybe it was because the alcohol stunted it for a while, and it was now recovering. Maybe it was because he was using it more than ever before, and it was increasing from exercise. It was anyone's guess.

He was uprooting trees with ease, something that most psychics would strain on performing. It was almost like the trees were obeying his thoughts. Uproot, and form a bridge for me. Simple as that.

Omex's work was interrupted eventually, halfway through completing his project. Something was in the forest walking towards him. It wasn't a feral either. Omex could sense the way it walked, it was a normal pokemon.

He quit his project for a second. He stopped his psychic powers, and the floating trees dropped to the ground.

"Who's there?" Omex shouted into the woods. No reply. It kept walking over however. _Guess we'll find out._

As the pokemon walked out of the shadowed forest and into direct sunlight, Omex was a little taken aback. The sunlight shown on the pokemon's brown leather robes. The pokemon had a hood on, masking his face entirely. He held a long wooden staff in his right hand.

Omex was sure surprised at the mysteriousness that surrounded the pokemon. He was doing everything to not be seen. It made him grow cautious of the stranger, however.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Omex asked. He could tell the pokemon was very old, but looked to be no amateur in anyway. His red eyes twinkled within his hood.

"I thought if anyone could talk some sense into you, it would be me…" The pokemon stated in more than a whisper. His voice was sore and taut.

Omex had no idea who this pokemon was. His statement though hinted that he might've known him. The stranger's words echoed in Omex's mind. Bergis was the only pokemon who knew of his current plans. Who was this, and how did he know what was going on? Perhaps it was a bluff. Perhaps the pokemon was just messing with him; but Omex had to figure out who it was.

"What are you talking about?!" Omex commanded at the stranger.

"This mission of yours won't bring anything good to you, Omex." The stranger told.

Omex was getting pissed this pokemon wasn't being direct. But the more he talked, the more Omex thought he knew the voice. Could it be someone he knew long, long ago? He was growing tired of these games. This pokemon was going to reveal himself, now, or things were going to get ugly.

"Tell me who you are this moment!" Omex slammed. He raised his wings in a sign that he was going to battle him if things didn't clear up soon.

"If you don't… Things are going to get really bad for you!" Omex added.

"You wouldn't attack an old friend, Omex, would you? I told you the dangers about the Isolated Tomb. I know what happened to Arno. Bergis told me everything."

Omex quivered. He lowered his wings. His heart started to pound. There was no way it could be who Omex now knew it was.

"C-Cardron? Is that… you?!" Omex stuttered. Suddenly everything fit the description. The voice, the style of walking, the body shape… He had no doubts.

The mysterious pokemon brought his arm up to his head. He grabbed his hood, and threw it backwards. It revealed the head of an old golduck. His blue skin was wrinkled beyond belief. His eyes were narrowed and glassy. His duck bill was scuffed and chipped in several areas. He had a thin white beard that hung down from his chin. A thin white mustached accompanied, each end hanging down on either sides of his bill. His pupils were as bright red as they had even been though, indicating the old pokemon still had life inside the nearly dead body.

"Hello Omex. It's been a while."

Omex could NOT believe it. This pokemon was supposed to be dead. He was told his old guildmaster had passed away a while ago. And even if he wasn't dead, Omex couldn't wrestle in his head how he could still be _alive._ If Omex had any indication how old Cardron was, it was that he must've been over 200 years old by now.

When Omex was a tiny natu, Cardron was older than beyond belief. Several decades later, this simply didn't make sense.

"Guildmaster! They said you were dead! What's going on?!" Omex demanded. He was more than happy to see him.

"Yes, I had Hephaestus announce my death and take over the guild. I have things to carry out before my passing, which is coming soon. I needed to remove myself from the guild in a natural way, and faking my death was the best way to do it."

Before Omex could get caught up in all the things he could say to his former guildmaster, his mind crossed the thought of why was he there in the first place.

"Cardron… What are you doing out here? Why have you tracked me down?" Omex asked.

Cardron took a deep breath.

"I'm here to help you, Omex", he responded.

"You know of my plans, then?" Omex confirmed.

"Yes, and you know, it wasn't your fault what happened to Arno."

"If you heard the story from Bergis, then you know it _was_ my fault. And I need to make things right." Omex offered.

Cardron looked to the ground. He stomped his staff.

"Okay…" Cardron started. "But I know you won't be able to get _her_ to do anything against her will. How will you make her carry out your plan?" He asked.

"I'm working with some other pokemon to get this accomplished. In exchange of me hunting her down, they are building a machine to harness the power", Omex explained. He thought it would be nice to get Cardron to help him.

It was as bad as Cardron had feared. Omex was truly following a path set by others, with the illusion that it was his own plan.

"Will you help me achieve my goal? It will bring Arno back. I know how much you liked him. He was the best grumpig ever. And I'm going to do everything in my power to undo this terrible mistake I've done!"

Cardron looked into Omex's eyes. It was making Omex uncomfortable. Cardron sighed again.

"Omex, don't you think these other pokemon have different motivations to use this machine?" Cardron asked.

"It's a risk I'm willing to take to bring Arno back. Cardron, you have no idea of the pain I'm going through. My memories won't stop tormenting me until I make this right! I don't care if the world comes apart if I can just undo _my_ mistakes!"

Omex was absolutely determined to carry this out. Cardron was growing very fearful. He now knew he would have to step in.

"Omex, I need you to listen closely to me. It is not your fault Arno died. An ancient evil in the tomb caused it to happen, it made the illusion that you did it singlehandedly. That's not guilt in your head, it's a power driving you to do its deeds. That machine will bring the return of this evil, and you are carrying that out!" Cardron explained.

Omex thought it was all so farfetched. "I don't believe that, Cardron. I killed Arno because I was angry that he was purer than me. I was the one that had driven my team so far into that tomb, and in the end it was Arno and only Arno that could retrieve that amulet! I was upset, I killed him on my own free will!"

"That's not true!" Cardron returned loudly.

"And now I'm going to fix my mistakes and bring him back! Will you help me, or not?!" Omex finished.

"An evil influenced you to kill him, Omex!" Cardron pleaded.

Omex was disappointed. He couldn't get it through to Cardron that it was his fault. Omex didn't want Cardron trying to make him feel better anymore. He had to carry out his mission no matter what, and fix this mistake. Cardron was always looking out for his old students, and this time was no different.

"Fine Cardron. Don't help me. I don't need your sympathy. And those excuses you're trying to fill my head with won't work. I thought you'd be happy with what I'm doing." Omex's eyes turned purple again, and the trees on the ground rose. He started to finish the construction on his bridge.

"Omex, _STOP_!" Cardron bellowed loudly. He very rarely ever yelled, and when he did, it would always catch everyone off guard. It threw Omex off. He blinked hard, the trees following to the ground, some off the cliff.

Omex looked over to Cardron. He gave Omex that look whenever he was doing something he disapproved of.

"What the fuck do you want from me, Guildmaster?! I'm going through with this, period! You are _not_ going to stop me!"

"Omex, we need to release this evil from your mind! Come with me and we can fix you! Arno died because Arno made the decision to go into that tomb with you! You had nothing to do with his death!" Cardron was yelling now, as he would yell when he'd lecture Omex years and years ago.

Omex squeezed his fists. He gritted his beak. He had absolutely enough of this nonsense.

"Guildmaster, I mean no disrespect, but I told you to stop with the sympathy! I'm going to finish my bridge, and if you try to stop me, I'm going to put you down. I beg that you let me _finish in peace_!"

Cardron replied by gripping his staff tightly with two hands.

"So, that's how it's going to be. Fine. Have it your way." Omex brought his wings up and his eyes glowed purple at Cardron.

Cardron's bright red, judging pupils saw deep into Omex's purple eyes.

"Omex, look what you've become. You're about to attack your old friend, your old guildmaster…" Cardron said, staring deep into him.

"I DON'T WANT TO ATTACK YOU!" Omex cried out. "YOU'RE MAKING ME DO THIS!"

"I've tried reasoning with you, Omex. But now it has come to this." Cardron uttered.

Omex suddenly lurched his wing forward, the psychic power flung Cardron backwards. He shot back several meters, tumbling on the ground. Omex had a hard time believing he had actually harmed his old guildmaster. It did not feel right. Cardron laid on the ground for a few seconds before instantly being stood up by his own psychic power. It had looked as if the attack hadn't bothered him.

Cardron had his right hand on his staff. He brought it up and placed his left hand at the bottom. He whipped the staff left.

Omex instantly and equally was whipped left hard by the psychic power. He was suddenly whipped right, along with the staff. Omex knew the power of psychic, but he couldn't remember the last time he was on the receiving end of such well channeled psychic energy. Finally, Cardron yanked his staff into the air. Omex was lifted into the air helplessly and slammed down hard on the ground.

"I tried warning you about these dangers! And you won't listen!" Cardron announced.

Omex was in a lot of pain, but as he was on the ground, he extended his wing, and shot out an ice beam.

Cardron saw the beam approaching, and reacted before it made contact. He twirled his staff around elegantly, producing a wave of water that negated Omex's attack.

The ice beam hit the water, freezing the wave on the spot. It gave Omex time to stand up as he looked at the giant wall of ice.

Within a few seconds, a large flame exploded on the ice wall from behind, instantly dissolving it. Cardron had his hand extended from producing a flamethrower.

The last thing Omex would've ever wanted to do was engage in combat with his old guildmaster. He knew though Cardron was going to stop him if he quit fighting.

Omex extended both his wings to launch a powerful psychic force. This time Cardron slammed his staff down, producing an invisible barrier. Cardron ended up being shoved back only a few feet.

After that Cardron whipped his staff around in a circle that produced a large array of sharp, razor leaves. They shot towards Omex. He put his wings up to block himself, and the leaves sliced his arms up badly.

Cardron was as strong as ever, to Omex's surprise. It was going to be a tough fight.

Cardron was very quick with his staff despite how old he was. He was a water type, but somehow his staff allowed him to use a variety of moves. He was an experienced battler, no doubt. The battle turned more physical as he swung the staff around trying to get a few hits in. Omex dodged them all however; Cardron was using a fighting technique he had taught Omex years ago.

When Omex had an opportunity, he dodged a swing and shot Cardron backwards with psychic. It caught Cardron off hand as he fell over beside the end of the cliff. Cardron got up immediately, realizing the danger he was in.

"Give up Cardron. I have you on the edge!" Omex demanded.

Cardron stood his ground and held his staff firmly. He would have to be defeated to allow Omex to continue.

"Why must you be so difficult?!" Omex said.

Cardron started to realize how powerful Omex had become. He was quick, his moves hit hard, and despite all of his knowledge, Omex was besting him.

His staff swung again, blasting a signal beam. Omex responded with a form that produced a barrier, splitting the beam at 90 degree angles.

Then Omex's eyes glowed bright purple. He lunged forward with his wings glowing. Omex knew they would stalemate if they performed special attacks all day, so he came in physically. He started performing an array of psycho cuts. Cardron's staff denied almost every attack, but he could not hold his ground.

He was suddenly inches from the cliff.

"Omex, I'm begging you! There's a better way!"

"No, there isn't." A large psychic blast shot Cardron over the edge of the Grandom Line.

Omex watched as his old guildmaster tumbled down the side of the cliff, watching his old, frail body smash into the rocks on the way down. When he finally reached the bottom his body smacked into water below.

The battle was over. Omex had won. He won a fight he never wanted to indulge in.

Omex looked away, and took a couple of steps back. He squinted his eyes shut, trying to undo what he saw. Omex was in immense emotional pain.

 _Why guildmaster? Why did it have to be this way?_ A tear fell from his eye onto the ground. Omex fell on his knees and started weeping.


	12. Test Day

It was early morning at Scarland City Guild. The sun had just begun to rise, signaling a new day. Cortez had another rude awakening when his dorm room door slammed open. A venomoth shouted out it was time to get up.

Cortez had been at the guild for over a week now, but was still not used to the venomoth coming around every morning at 7 to wake everyone up.

Cortez dizzily sat up in his bed. He watched as Luke and Sharp grumbled around a bit, waking as well. The early morning rays of the sun shone into the room.

"Good morning", Cortez greeted. He didn't feel like opening with a morning greeting, but he had been doing it for a while now, so he just continued it.

"No", Luke said, with his eyes closed still.

Sharp was already up. He conked his metal helmet a bit, quick starting his brain.

"Everybody better be wide awake", Sharp started. "Mr. Sherm's test is today!" He added with a little too much enthusiasm.

It got Luke up. "This is gonna blow", he mumbled.

Everyone made it to the cafeteria. All the pokemon were at the table, discussing how hard the test could be.

"I studied a ton!" Anna stated. "I'm so ready to pass it!" Cortez expected nothing less from Anna. She had always been very diligent in everything she did. She always worked and studied harder than everyone else.

"Good job, Anna. I'm sure you'll pass with flying colors", Cortez said. He had been very supportive of his team ever since they had to brew a potion in the dungeon.

"What about you?" Anna asked Cortez.

"I'm not gonna sweat it. I'm sure I'll pass. The charts aren't even hard to read, I'll be fine."

It wasn't too much longer before everyone had finished their food, and were slowly making their way to Mr. Sherm's classroom. Surprisingly, when they had gotten there, Mr. Sherm was nowhere in his classroom. Everyone took their seats like they had every morning, but their teacher wasn't there.

"Where's Mr. Sherm?!" Alice the hoppip cried out.

"I'm sure he'll be here soon", Travino the mudkip said.

5 minutes went by. Some of the pokemon were getting ideas to get up and leave. Some had no idea what to think.

Honestly, Cortez didn't mind so much. No teacher? No test. Maybe they could skip it.

His dreams died quick though when their honchkrow teacher rushed in with a briefcase and a cup of coffee.

"My apologies, students", Mr. Sherm grumbled as he placed all his stuff at his desk. He looked to be a bit flustered.

"Oh, Mr. Sherm! Thank goodness! Where were you?" Alice asked.

Mr. Sherm completely ignored her. He finished organizing his desk.

"I'm sure all of you know what today is", Mr. Sherm announced. Cortez saw the stack of papers come out of the desk drawer.

"I've prepared you all the best I can. We've been learning this for a week now. If you fail this test, _I'm dropping you_."

What?! These were new stakes. Half the pokemon gasped. Mr. Sherm had never once mentioned something like that. You'll be dropped from the class if you fail? Cortez instantly became nervous. He knew he had nothing to worry about, but it still bothered him that something so bad could happen if you failed.

Getting kicked out.

His mind suddenly thought of Team Varien. He became happy knowing there was a chance they'd be leaving. He knew they fell behind with this potion stuff.

"Uh, Mr. Sherm?" Murdock the timburr let out. "Don't you think that's a bit harsh?"

"No!" Was all the teacher said back. Cortez saw Clyde eyeing Murdock with concern.

Cortez was going to explode with happiness. They were going to fail; it was so obvious. Finally, they'd get what was coming to them. Cortez wouldn't have to do anything in revenge after they ate their berry, they were going to be kicked out, and that was the best revenge.

"Pass these out. I'm going to be watching you all very closely. If see anyone cheating, so help me." Mr. Sherm handed the stack of papers around to the pokemon.

When Cortez got his, he looked the test over. I had a bunch of fill in the blanks, fill in the charts, along with some multiple choice. He had to do this. He had to pass for his team, for Omex, and for himself.

"Begin when you're ready!" Mr. Sherm jumped up on his desk with a flap of his wings. He was hunched over, his boggling eyes staring over the class closely.

Cortez went to work. He was very relieved to see he knew the material quite well. What berry is used in a potion of sleeping? Duh, chesto berry! He scribbled in his answer.

This aggregator causes berries to have their effects reversed. Hmm… Blueroot and Redroot Vines! That's what causes the potions to work…

Cortez continued to fill out the questions. He did come across a few he had to guess, but for the most part he was doing pretty well. He looked up to see Clyde who had his tongue sticking out the side and his pencil scratching his ear. He didn't see his pencil hit the paper once yet.

"Eyes on your own paper, helioptile!" Mr. Sherm yelled. Cortez jumped in embarrassment and returned to his own test. If he was lucky, maybe all of Varien would fail and they'd be gone for good. Clyde was the main source of the trouble, and Cortez hoped if anyone would fail, it'd be him.

Whew, finished. Cortez looked through his test to make sure he hadn't passed over anything. He flipped the test over. There was a bonus question on the back.

'What would make Mr. Sherm happy?'

What kind of question is that? This had nothing to do with the test. Cortez pondered it a bit. There wasn't much that would make him happy, he thought. What an odd question. Maybe an odd question deserves an odd answer.

Cortez wrote down his answer and turned his test in. He got up to the front. Mr. Sherm held his wing out and grasped the test from him.

Slowly but surely, everyone else turned their test in. Cortez wasn't the first to do so. Dash the drilbur was first, followed by Nancy the abra and Travino the mudkip.

Anna got hers in. Azoth got his finished. Luke and Sharp took a little longer, but theirs got turned in, too.

Soon, Clyde was the only one still working. Everyone sat in silence as he continued. Mr. Sherm showed no sign of rushing him. He stayed as still as when the test first started.

Cortez had nothing to do, along with the rest of the class. He looked around at the walls a bit. There was a clock in the corner. He studied Mr. Sherm's odd duel monster card game poster. There were also plenty of inspirational quote posters about how well you can do if you set your mind to it.

Several more minutes passed before Clyde finally finished. He brought his test up. Cortez was so happy to see how long he took. It was a good sign he had no idea what he was doing.

"Alright, that's all the tests, then." Mr. Sherm grabbed the completed papers and went behind his desk. He sat down in his rolling chair.

"I'm grading all of these right here, right now. And you'll all sit patiently as I do so."

"Can we talk?" Dash asked.

"No talking!" He returned.

Mr. Sherm tucked the papers together nicely. He placed them to his left. He pulled out a red pen and began. He pulled a sheet from the left. They watched his pupils sway left and right quickly. It stayed that way for a bit.

"Tsk", Mr. Sherm sounded as he shook his head. The red pen made a loud and hard slash across the paper. The class jumped a bit in horror.

Was Mr. Sherm being this dramatic on purpose, or was he always like this?

He was always like this, Cortez knew.

A couple more things were scribbled before he put the paper to his right. A new paper from the left entered the center.

Nobody knew whose test he was grading exactly. Sometimes his eyes widened in approval as he barely made a mark on the test. On other tests, he looked really disappointed as his red pen lashed the paper over and over.

That certainly worried everyone. Must've been Clyde's paper, Cortez thought.

The stack on the left grew smaller as the stack on the right became longer. Soon, he was done. He capped the red pen. Cortez noticed on each test he graded, he never checked the back of any of them. What about the bonus question? Did he not care?

Everyone stared in awe as he finished. They all waited for a reaction. Mr. Sherm's eyes suddenly rose on the class.

He sighed. "Well, that's over with", he mumbled. Nobody said anything.

"It's my very unfortunate duty to announce this, but…" Oh god, here it comes. Mr. Sherm was going to lay it down! Clyde would beg for mercy but Mr. Sherm would just cry out FAILURE! Like he did to him!

"Everyone here… has… Passed!" He yelled, a bit aggregated.

The class hurrahed. Some pokemon did a dance in their seat.

What? _Everyone_ passed? How could this be?! Did he forget to grade any of Team Varien's papers?

"Some of you obviously did better than others, some barely passed, but it was all reasonable enough. Everyone will continue with training", Mr. Sherm explained.

"Mr. Sherm, what about that bonus question on the back?" Lawrence the grimer asked.

"Ah, yes, that wasn't for any points. I just wanted to see what you guys would write down. I'm going to go over them aloud."

"Oh, god. I wonder what people wrote down", Luke exclaimed.

"I'm wondering, too", Mr. Sherm replied. He picked up a test.

If Cortez had known he would do this, he might've made his answer different.

"First we have the blitzle's test. He did pretty well. Alright", Mr. Sherm turned the paper around. He cleared his throat.

"What would make Mr. Sherm happy? Blitzle put down 'vacation.' Not a bad answer. I haven't had one in years." He placed the paper to the side.

"Here's the sunkern's test. Did okay, was disappointed he didn't know the difference between pre-brewing and post-brewing. I only went over it a hundred times." Adam the sunkern looked embarrassed as he sunk in his seat.

"Ahem. What would make Mr. Sherm happy? If he was shiny." A few pokemon chuckled. Mr. Sherm's blood shot eyes darted up at the sunkern.

"Is this some sort of game? Do I _look_ like I want to be pink?!"

Adam didn't respond.

"That answer couldn't be any further from the truth…" He put his paper down and went to the next.

"Aha, the mime jr.'s" Mr. Sherm exclaimed. Coraline gasped.

"Can't complain. You messed up a bit with the chart identifying… But… Can't complain."

"Oh no, I knew I did horrible with the charts!"

"What would make Mr. Sherm happy? If he had less students…" He looked up at the class. Everyone waited for a reaction.

"Well, that would certainly make my job easier. Good answer."

Mr. Sherm continued to announce the problems with everyone's test as well as read the bonus questions. A few were funny, most seemed pretty expected. He happily announced Anna did extremely well, which really came as no surprise.

Then he got to Luke's.

"Ah, the poor houndour. Barely grasps anything I teach…" Mr. Sherm announced as he looked over all the red slashes. Luke was grinning wide. No one knew why.

"Too many things to nitpick… I'm just going to say you passed at least. That's all." He turned the paper over. "What would make Mr. Sherm happy? A new booster box of duel monster cards."

Everyone gasped. Mr. Sherm's eyes narrowed suspiciously. He slowly looked up at Luke as the whole class was silent. Luke had a huge smile on his face still.

"I thought I had kept that secret."

"Oh, c'mon Mr. Sherm! You have a poster over there! And you _always_ make analogies to the game as you teach!" Luke explained.

"I do?" Mr. Sherm said.

Everyone chimed in a yes. Mr. Sherm shook his head. "Well, I am bit fond of the game", He casually mentioned. He moved on.

"The gligar's test." Mr. Sherm looked it over for a second. "It's surprising enough, but gligar got everything right. He had the highest score of the class!"

Cortez's jaw dropped. How could that be? He must've cheated! No, Mr. Sherm would've definitely noticed. Did he really need Cortez's help in the dungeon or was it a front? Did he end up studying really hard? It was all hard to fathom.

"Congrats on that." Mr. Sherm turned the paper over. "What would make Mr. Sherm happy? A million pokecoins… Yeah, that'd probably make anyone happy."

"Would you quit if you got that money?" Clyde asked.

"It would be very tempting!"

Finally, Mr. Sherm got to Cortez's test.

"The helioptile. Great test. You seemed to have all the subjects down pat, just minor errors here or there." He flipped the paper over. Here it comes.

"What would make Mr. Sherm happy?" Mr. Sherm's expression changed from funny to dead serious in a second. He stared at the paper. He didn't continue. His eyes rested on the answer for a while. He left the class hanging. Everyone quickly grew more and more concerned every second that passed that he continued to stare at the paper.

Cortez wished he would've put something else down. He wouldn't have taken it seriously, would he?

Mr. Sherm looked up at the students. All the pokemon stared bug-eyed. Some of the students looked over at Cortez, who was looking awfully guilty. Mr. Sherm gritted his beak a bit, deep in thought.

"Helioptile… You're staying after class." Mr. Sherm choked.

It was so obvious everyone was wondering what Cortez had written. He had single handedly written an answer that Mr. Sherm wasn't willing to read aloud, and it dropped his light mood to seriousness.

At this point Mr. Sherm didn't bother to read the rest of the tests. It was the first time his teacher wanted to do something light hearted, and he ruined it with his answer. Cortez felt bad.

"We are beginning today's lesson, notes out, everyone", Mr. Sherm commanded as he went to the board.

For the rest of the lesson, Mr. Sherm was in a pretty bad mood. He went over a new topic, as potion brewing was finished after the test. He never let anyone speak during his entire teaching session. Floyd had tried to ask a question, in which Mr. Sherm bellowed out "no talking!"

Cortez could feel that the class was upset with him. Why did he have to write something down that pissed him off? Everyone could tell their teacher was really upset over what Cortez wrote. Mr. Sherm was teaching really quickly. Maybe he was purposely teaching quickly. He went over complex seed and berry growing methods, and everyone could barely keep up in their notes.

"Warp seeds are the only seeds that grow naturally in crystal illuminated caves", Mr. Sherm explained. "They are synthetically manufactured under crystal pressed glass 4/5th thickness to 3/5th. The soil can only be used with water that has specifically 5 percent granite and 12 percent limestone composite integrated in it."

Everyone scribbled furiously in their notes.

Mr. Sherm continued, only giving very brief moments for everyone to catch up. After an hour into the lesson, the class was finished for the day. He looked up at the time.

"Alright, I'm done for the day. All this will be on the test. So study hard."

Everyone was exhausted. Their hands hurt from writing so much. As everyone got up to leave, many of the pokemon gave Cortez a disappointing look. Cortez just sat in his seat as everyone trailed out.

He had no idea what was going to happen to him. Mr. Sherm was pissed, that much was certain. He completely regretted what he had written down. He should've written down a million pokecoins like Clyde had. Anything but this.

Cortez's heart was thumping harder than ever. He was pretty scared what was going to happen. When the class had all finally left, Mr. Sherm closed the door behind the last student leaving.

The door clicked shut.

Mr. Sherm was silent. He calmly walked over to his desk. He stood behind his desk, staring at Cortez in silence. This was getting awkward. He was looking really angry.

"Get up here now!" He yelled.

Cortez got up quickly and approached the other side of his desk. Mr. Sherm took out Cortez's test and slammed it down hard, the back facing up.

"What the hell is this?!" He yelled, pointing at Cortez's answer.

Cortez shrugged. He had no idea what to say. He wished he had put something else down. Mr. Sherm was taking it more seriously than he thought.

"What do you know about this?! Tell me right now!" Mr. Sherm demanded.

"I don't know anything! It was a joke!" Cortez replied.

"Oh, it was a _joke_?!" He taunted back.

Cortez nodded his head rapidly.

"Don't _fuck_ with me _Cortez_!"

Cortez was scared out of his mind. This was the first time he had ever heard his teacher swear, let alone being called by his actual name.

"Please! I was just kidding! You just seemed like it…" Cortez pleaded.

"What's your reasoning for writing something this absurd down?! You will tell me this instant!"

"Nothing! I swear to you it really was a joke! I thought you'd find it funny!" Cortez had broken out in a cold sweat.

"You think I'd find this to be humorous?!"

Mr. Sherm breathed heavily. He stroked his crest. A few moments of silence went by as Mr. Sherm thought.

"You thought it would be appropriate to put that down. I pour my heart out into teaching, I have a serious passion for it. I'm sorry if you don't see it that way!"

"I'm very sorry sir. It really was in a lighthearted manner, I swear. It's just that you're so strict and all…"

"You think _I'm_ strict? You think I'm being to cruel to you all? I'm trying to prepare you all for the danger and hostility in the field you are embarking in! It's my duty to be that way!"

Cortez had his head down.

"You're a smart kid, but there is so much you don't know. I care about all of you students. I want to see you all succeed. That's why I seem so grumpy."

Mr. Sherm put his wings behind his back. "Why is it that you're the only one that gives me so many problems."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Sherm. I'll do better."

"It's very insulting that you would think of me like that. I work hard to serve the betterment of pokemon by providing knowledge to help others. I don't have to do this if I don't want to!"

"I realize that, sir. I appreciate you very much."

Mr. Sherm leaned his wings onto the desk and leaned in close to Cortez.

"You've disrespected me today, Cortez. I never want to hear of this again. Be on your way."

"Yes sir"

Before Cortez left, he got one final glimpse of the test's bonus question.

What would make Mr. Sherm happy?

If he was no longer forced to teach.


	13. Life of the Party

Chapter XIV - Life of the Party

It wasn't much of a surprise to Cortez that Luke and Sharp were waiting out in the hallway as he left Mr. Sherm's classroom. They had been waiting anxiously to find out what exactly they had missed out on. Cortez closed the door behind him, not looking too pleased.

"Corty! What happened, man?" Luke bounced around in front of him.

Cortez hushed him. "Let's put some distance between that classroom before I explain anything."

The three cornered a hallway that led to a door to the library, and one to the dojo. Cortez came to a stop and faced his friends.

"What did you write down that was so bad?" Sharp asked.

"Well, I wrote down that Mr. Sherm would be happy if he was no longer forced to teach", Cortez explained.

Luke let out a sudden laugh. "That's rich! He really got upset over that?!" He asked.

"Yeah, and honestly, I find it weird that he did", Cortez started. "You think there's any truth to it?"

"With Mr. Sherm, I wouldn't be surprised about anything. Why would he be forced to teach though?" Luke said back.

"It beats me."

They were silent for a second as a gigalith passed the three of them.

"You know, I think everyone's upset at you…" Sharp said.

Cortez waved his hand. "Apparently I'm always causing problems." Cortez remembered Mr. Sherm's words.

"It was honestly a joke… I was curious how he'd react. He gave me a 5-minute lecture about how he teaches to help everyone, and that I 'disrespected him today.' I think he gets mad far too easily", Cortez added.

"I don't think it's a good idea to get him mad at you", Sharp offered.

"I don't think it's a good idea, either. I'll play my cards better", Cortez said.

Luke's face lit up. "That's a Sherm pun!"

"Yeah! If there's anything good about him, it's his puns!" Cortez laughed.

"Wanna hit the dojo?" Luke asked.

"Let's do it."

The pokemon had been visiting the dojo regularly as Skoll had instructed them. Every day they went in their favorite corner of the dojo after class, where they always met Team Mudwave, who were always training hard.

Cortez walked up to the two of them.

"Hey guys", Cortez said casually.

"Welcome back", Travino mentioned in his calm, dusty voice. "Did Sherm tear ya a new one?"

"Oh yeah."

"What did you write?" The mudkip was pretty interested, a side he usually didn't show.

Everyone gathered.

"I wrote that Mr. Sherm would be happy if he was no longer forced to teach", Cortez said quietly in the huddle.

Dash the drilbur's mouth opened. Travino let out a rare smile.

"That's great. That couldn't get any better. You have balls, kid", Trav said.

"Try telling that to Sherm", Cortez said back.

Dash had a different opinion. "That was a bad move", he mentioned. His face looked terrified.

"You guys see the poster yet?" Trav asked while pointing to the wall. They looked over to see a competition poster that had been freshly put up.

"What is it?" Cortez asked.

"Go look."

The three walked over to the wall. It declared a team battle competition. All students of Scarland City Guild could enter in their assigned teams only, and first place won 1,000 pokecoins a piece. The tournament would start in a few days. Luke became really excited.

Cortez exclaimed at it marvelously.

"You think we can win?" Sharp asked.

"I think me and Dash have a good chance of taking the prize", Travino mentioned from behind.

Cortez turned around in surprise. "You sound awfully sure of yourself."

"We _are_ sure of ourselves. I think me and Dash are better than any of the teams here", Travino added.

Cortez thought highly of Travino. He was a calm, mentally and physically robust pokemon, and the last thing he would do is talk smack. Travino was a very serious mudkip. If he said something, he meant it in his heart.

"That's pretty impressive!" Luke declared, having the same look on Trav as Cortez did. "You guys got some special technique or something? Or is it raw power?"

"It's a complicated mixture of the two", Dash squeezed in, hearing Travino go on.

"You think you'll beat Team Varien?" Cortez tried.

"Team Varien is a group of thick headed pokemon who are overconfident. They are strong, but that's it. It won't be hard to trump them with a little diversion", Travino explained.

Cortez remembered he had his behind handed to him by Clyde. Was he really as simply defeated as Travino made it out to be? Or was Travino just leagues out of Cortez?

Sharp, Luke and Team Mudwave were talking amongst each other as Cortez thought about everything.

"Trav! Can we fight?" Cortez let out suddenly.

It caught everyone off guard. Travino turned and looked with a hint of confusion.

"What do you mean 'can we fight?'" He asked.

"Like, I just want to test myself", Cortez explained.

"You really could just fight with your friends. Or train on the dummy…" Trav offered as a buffer.

"I'd like to fight _you_. If it's not okay, tell me now."

Cortez was piercing Travino's excuses. He had gotten straight to the point. Travino did a lot of talking about easily beating the class, and Cortez was really curious how much he could back that up. Cortez thought that Travino was indirectly picking up on that reason too. Travino's excuses told Cortez that either he didn't want to embarrass him, or he really was talking smack. Cortez was afraid it was the first of the two.

"Alright then Cortez, I accept your challenge. Just remember, this is for fun, no hard feelings."

"Right."

Everyone backed away as Cortez and Travino took their places and prepared with a bit of a warm up.

Dash sighed as he looked to Luke and Sharp. "Does Cortez always do this stuff?"

"Corty always pushes the envelope. His curiosity normally causes him issues", Luke explained to the drilbur.

"It's certainly going to cause an issue here", Dash said to himself. Luke looked over at him.

That definitely was Dash's way of saying Cortez was about to get bodied.

"Are you ready?" Cortez said impatiently.

Travino sat there casually. "Ready when you are."

"Here we go!" Cortez started charging up an electric attack. He shot a lightning bolt at Travino.

Travino instantly rolled over left. He was still sitting. The electric attack hit the floor harmlessly.

Travino didn't do anything. He just sat there with a dead pan expression.

Was he trying to psyche him out?

Cortez casted another lightning bolt.

Travino responded just by rolling to the right. Cortez thought he was certainly good at dodging. His luck would end though.

He shot out another thunderbolt; but the only thing that was 'lightning' here was Travino's mocking rollovers.

"We don't have to do this, Cortez", Travino offered after he had rolled out of four of Cortez's special attacks.

Travino was getting annoying, but he wasn't about to just give up because he couldn't hit him. He would keep attacking.

"No, we're still going!" Cortez declared.

This little game Travino was playing continued for a while longer. Other pokemon who were training had come over to watch the odd display.

Thunderbolt, dodge roll. Thunderbolt, dodge roll. Thunderbolt, dodge roll.

"You know, the whole idea of a battle is for you to attack too!" Cortez yelled out, frustrated.

"You want me to attack back?" Travino asked.

Cortez's eyes narrowed. What game was Travino playing? It wasn't funny.

"Yes, I'd obviously like you to attack back!" Cortez responded.

"Okay, then…"

Cortez shot out another thunderbolt. Travino dodged, and suddenly a huge wave of water smacked Cortez across the face. It threw him into a daze as it gushed into his face, flipping him backwards a few feet.

He found himself disorientated as his face was stinging. He stood up, off balance, and soaked. He was facing the wrong way. A few pokemon chuckled.

Cortez turned around. Travino, surprisingly enough, had been sitting there the same way as when the battle started.

He ran up at him in a rage. Cortez had his claws ready. He drew in his distance. Trav had finally stood up when he saw Cortez running at him.

He went in for a scratch attack. Before his claws even came in contact with Travino, Cortez received a massive slap across the face from Trav's tail.

Cortez landed on his face. Before he could get up, he felt the paw of a mudkip press firmly against his back. It sent a wave of fear through Cortez.

"I concede! I concede!" He yelled quickly and loudly.

The paw's pressure was removed. Instead, it was held out in front of Cortez as sign to help him up. Cortez took it.

"You're amazing, Trav. Where did you learn that stuff?" Cortez asked in pain. His face was red from the water and tail smack.

"I taught myself."

"Those rolls!" Cortez said with astonishment. "They're incredible! How are you so quick with them?"

"The whole idea is to know where your opponent will attack before they do so. You made it pretty obvious", Travino explained.

"I've got to learn how to do that!"

After the fight, Cortez's respect for Trav had nearly doubled. The other three pokemon had closed in.

"Man Corty! That sure was _embarrassing_!" Luke taunted.

Cortez ignored him.

"Could you teach me that?" Cortez asked Travino.

Travino cringed. "Eh, I really can't. It takes far too long to develop. It has to become muscle memory."

Of course. Nothing useful was ever easily learned.

"I can say that your electric attacks have improved slightly", he mentioned, trying to cheer him up some. It didn't mean anything to Cortez coming from someone who was nine times better than him.

After everyone had settled down over the friendly fight, the pokemon got back to training on the dummies. Cortez juiced himself out in just a few minutes trying to get a higher score, but to no avail.

Cortez was feeling a mixture of sweet and sour after their fight. On one hand, he was completely convinced Travino had the tournament in his pocket. On the other hand, he was pretty much ridiculed in front of everyone.

"Hey Cortez, are we entering in that competition?" Sharp asked him.

"Definitely, Sharp! We aren't going down without a fight." He gave him a thumbs up.

"We have a few days to train", Sharp mentioned.

"Let's train hard then! We have to find Anna and go over some methods of attack later", Cortez said.

Just then, Skoll the arcanine arrived to the group of pokemon.

"Hello everyone! What's shaking?" He let out. He was covered in sweat, a sign that he must've been working out, or training another pokemon too hard.

"We're just training!" Luke provided. Skoll stood two feet above everyone else. They all looked up at him literally when they talked.

"That's what this place is for!" He returned hardily. "Does anyone have any questions or need any help?"

"Can you tell me more about the tournament?" Cortez asked.

Skoll's face lit up. "Sure, sure! So that takes place in 3 days, here in the dojo. It will be hosted at 2 o clock, barely after normal classes. We're doing a bracket set up, as you might've saw, the winners get 1,000 pokecoins a piece!"

"It's a lot of money", Sharp said in amazement.

"Yes, but remember, items can't be used. This is all pokemon power, okay?"

Everyone nodded.

"Alright. Sorry, I should've checked up on y'all earlier. I've eyed you guys in this corner for a while but have been incredibly busy. If you guys need anything, let me know!"

After Skoll left, everyone continued to train on their own. Luke used flamethrower on the dummies with remarkable scores, Sharp jabbed up a few of them, Dash swiped and slashed mud around, and Cortez was catching his breath after a few short shocks.

Not before long, dinner time had rolled around.

Cortez, Luke, and Sharp had made it to the cafeteria earlier than everyone else. There were just a few pokemon waiting in line at the cafeteria for the windows to open. They all got in line.

"Do you think you're getting any better, Cortez?" Luke asked.

"Honestly I don't know any more. Everyone seems miles ahead of me."

"Is this about Travino's dodge rolls?" Luke returned.

"I'd rather that not be brought up", Cortez grumpily said.

Luke raised his eyebrows at the sudden chord he struck.

"I just hope we don't end up going against each other in the tournament…" Luke mentioned. "I'd hate to fight you."

"I'd hate to fight you too!"

They waited around a bit before the windows to the cafeteria finally opened. Huge red tentacles started plopping bowls of food onto the receiving counter.

When Cortez went around to grab his food, he thought it would cool to yell out "Thanks for the food!"

When he did, the Octillery used a spare tentacle to lift his chef hat up then down.

By the time the made it to the table to begin eating, they watched all the other pokemon begin to file in. He saw Anna come in with Coraline and Nancy.

When Anna sat across from them, Cortez brought up the tournament.

"Yeah, but no thanks. I don't want to fight other pokemon for fun", she said.

"C'mon Anna. We can't do it without you!" Cortez exclaimed.

Sharp had no problems chiming in.

She looked uncomfortable as her team was begging for her participation.

"It's all in good nature", Cortez added. "If it becomes too much, just concede. Don't push yourself."

She shifted around a bit.

"Alright, fine. But because we are a _team_! And teams do things together."

"Yeah!" Cortez yelled.

Anna definitely had her own thoughts about it all, but Cortez could tell she was doing it for the two of them.

It wasn't too long before Clyde and his gang walked to the other side of the table to meet Cortez. He jumped as the gligar approached him with Murdock and Seamus.

"Cortez!" He yelled out. Everyone readied themselves for a fight. Cortez's muscles tensed up. Clyde was looking pretty angry.

"I have to ask! What was on that paper!?" Clyde instantly became very interested, he seemingly acted like they had no beef between them.

"Oh, uh…" Cortez stared at Clyde. Clyde was looking intently. Soon Cortez noticed nearly everyone was looking at him.

He sighed. "I regrettably wrote… That Mr. Sherm would be happy if he was no longer forced to teach." This was the third time he had said it.

Team Varien let out some laughs. Anna shook her head.

Clyde was laughing hard but then interrupted himself. His expression changed to seriousness.

"Oh, he didn't find that funny at all."

"Yeah, I thought he'd just play it off. But… He took that to heart I think", Cortez explained.

Clyde looked down at the floor for a second. Then he looked up, smiled, and gave a more than hard pat of his claw on Cortez's back.

"That was alright, Cortez. That was alright." He then walked away, his two pokemon following him.

When he went back to his side of the table, Anna started.

"Was that his way of making amends?" She asked.

Cortez shrugged. "I don't know. He pulls off a dick move by eating our berry, then acts like there's nothing wrong. We'll get him back somehow."

She shook her head. "Why on earth would you write that, Cortez?"

 _Great, here we go._

"Why would you even gamble his reaction? Are you trying to upset him? He might fail you on purpose! You made him teach too fast because of that!"

"Look, Mr. Sherm is a lot of things, but he isn't crooked. He wouldn't purposely fail me. I think he hinted that at me when he talked to me after class", Cortez explained.

Anna didn't add anything else. She just tended to her food, along with everyone else. Several bites of food went by before he had something else to add.

"Oh, did you know he used my real name when he yelled at me?"

Everyone adjacent to him perked up.

"He called you Cortez? Not helioptile?" Luke asked with a mouthful.

"Oh, he was pissed…" Cortez said to himself. "I was very scared he would physically lash out on me."

Everybody ate up Cortez's words, along with their real food. The pokemon continued to press him for details on what exactly he said. Many of the pokemon were impressed, some, not so. Azoth thought it to be great, Lawrence was worried. Everyone had mixed feelings about what he had done.

Adam brought up how the day had become worse because of it all.

"Yeah, I'm sorry", he told them all. "I really should've but something simple down. I don't mean to give everyone extra homework or anything", he said as he ate more steamed berries.

Dinner was now over, and their day only had a few more hours until its conclusion. Luke, Cortez, and Sharp decided to go back to their dorm room to study and relax a bit.

"Ya think I should buy him a pack of duel monster cards?" Luke asked as they walked the hallway to their room.

"I don't think he'd even accept them", Cortez said back.

Back at the room, Cortez sat at his desk with his notes open. They had been going over exotic berry and seed growth patterns and methods. He looked at his rapidly-scribbled notes. It all looked like rubbish.

"Hey, what does this have to do with rescuing people?" Cortez asked over his shoulder as he studied his notes. Luke and Sharp were at their own desks.

"Hell if I know", Luke started. "But all I know is if we don't memorize this, we can't become official explorers!"

Cortez mentally scoffed at all of it. We wished he had a different teacher. Did any of the staff even realize how harsh he was? He flipped a page in his notebook. He flipped another page. There was a shrewd diagram of a blast seed stem. He scratched the back of his head as he studied it.

After a little while, he had enough.

"I'm turning in, guys", Cortez said as he got up from his desk. He flicked his lamp off and went over to his bed. He laid face-up, staring at the wooden ceiling with the light still on.

Sharp and Luke kept studying. Surprisingly.

A few minutes passed. Cortez was starting to get drowsy.

"Hey Luke. What do you think Omex is doing right now?"

"Who?" Sharp asked.

"He's probably doing grand things. Getting mad loot, probably. Maybe one day we'll be good enough to travel with him!" Luke exclaimed.

Cortez's mind wondered to when he overheard a portion of Omex's plans. He realized Luke didn't know about them. Luke thought he was out doing some exploring. Cortez knew he was out executing a plan. A plan that apparently shouldn't happen.

It wasn't too much longer, but everyone decided to go to bed as well. Sharp and Luke got comfy in their beds and the light went out.

After a few minutes, Cortez fell asleep.

He was greeted with a terrible nightmare.

In his nightmare, Cortez was back in the classroom. Mr. Sherm was teaching. The honchkrow was saying stuff, but he couldn't understand any of it. He looked around as the other students were taking notes. Cortez tried to move his arms, but couldn't. His whole body was frozen in place.

He tried yelling, but his voice was mute. Suddenly the classroom caught on fire. Mr. Sherm started to grow in size. He began yelling at Cortez but it was all nonsense. All the students around him started to rise in the air with their desks. The ceiling became a huge city. When he looked up, he saw buildings, colosseums, offices, arenas and more. All the students were rising into this city, but Cortez stayed put on the floor in the fiery classroom.

Mr. Sherm kept growing larger and his yelling got louder at Cortez but he still couldn't make out what he was saying. Then Cortez started sinking into the ground. He watched as all the students rose above him. He very badly wanted to go with them, but instead was sinking into the ground. He still couldn't move. He still couldn't cry for help.

Chains wrapped around his body. He tried to shoot a thunderbolt but his moves didn't work. He kept sinking. Then he saw Omex. Omex was the same massive size as Mr. Sherm, and his eyes were black with dark flames erupting from them. The two large pokemon's wings pushed him into the further into ground. All the other students were no longer in sight. They were all above in the safety of the city.

Soon he was so far in the ground there was only darkness.

Cortez began to fell this terrible feeling that he felt a while ago. _Uncertainty._ It was painful. He couldn't explain this torturous mental pain. Something was happening. It scared him to know that _something_ was _happening_. What was all this awful uncertainty? He begged in his mind to not know what was happening. He struggled and struggled to get out, but couldn't move.

The pain spiked.

Cortez's eyes darted open. He sat up in bed, panting hard. His heart felt like it was going to explode. He had completely broken out in a profuse, cold sweat.

He gasped for air in the midst of his confusion. When he finally collected himself, he noticed it was the middle of the night. Luke and Sharp were sound asleep.

 _What is happening? This dream… what is that terrible feeling? Why am I having it again?_

He thought for a while before he finally remembered something. He got out of bed. He went over to his explorer's bag and pulled out the dreamcatcher Omex had made for him.

He blamed himself for forgetting he even had it. He swore he vowed to use it every night a while ago. With the dreamcatcher in hand, Cortez returned to his bed. He placed it beside his pillow.

Something very odd was going to happen soon. Maybe it was happening now, and no one knew of it. Cortez snuggled his blanket in fear. Had Omex's problems somehow rubbed off on Cortez? It wasn't fair if they had. He absolutely didn't want anything to do with what Omex was going through.

Cortez closed his eyes and fell back asleep. He felt relieved knowing he had the dreamcatcher.

* * *

Somewhere, in a shroud of light...

 _What is the meaning of this?_

 _I am sorry… I miscalculated._

 _You made the mistake of trusting someone. Someone, who has been influenced._

 _I underestimated how much he has become influenced._

 _Indeed, you have. This has set you back._

 _I understand. I need more time._

 _You had a mission to finish._

 _Grant me more time._

 _My time is expiring. The attack is coming. You have failed me._

 _I need another chance. I won't make the same mistake again._

 _I can only lend you so much more time._

 _So be it. I must finish what I've started._

 _Then, go forth._

The bright light began to dim. There was a sinking feeling.

An old golduck's eyes forced themselves open. His pupils were gray, but a bright scarlet color returned to them. His breathing was jumpstarted. His old lungs gasped for air as he coughed up water. A throbbing pain accompanied his body.

Life returned to the beat up carcass. He began to stand up as his muscles came back to life. He looked about the area in a daze.

It was night, he had washed up on a beach somewhere, that much was certain. He looked to see that several feet away from him was his staff.

Cardron's strength was slowly returning to him. He coughed a bit more.

 _Time… I'm low on my time…_

Cardron slowly opened his hand, and his staff flew into his palm. He studied it for a bit.

 _Everything's coming back. What happened?_

His mind was suddenly supplied with recent memories, almost as if his entire well-being was being downloaded into him. He had a vision of Omex pushing him off the edge of the Grandom Line.

Cardron winced in pain as he remembered what happened. The Omex he knew would've never done such a treacherous thing. He was truly not himself anymore.

He looked up at the cliff face in front of him. He had washed up far south of where he was originally. Cardron closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then he started limping down the side of the beach.

The attack was coming. Unfortunately, he wasn't going to make it back in time. Pokemon would die. His setback would cost him many lives.


	14. Mission of Regret

Omex, Bergis and Arno traversed a hallway in the Isolated Tomb.

This mystery dungeon was unforgiving. It was considered to be one of the most dangerous dungeons in existence. Team Madcrack had made it their goal to be the first known team to ever pull of such a feat – completing the dungeon.

It was true they expected it to be extremely hard. They anticipated danger to a degree, but never as bad as what they had endured. No one knew how long the Isolated Tomb went for. 10 floors? 100 floors? 1000 floors? Nearly every mystery dungeon in the pokemon realm had been documented by exploration teams, but there remained the few that were undefeated.

Teams had completely perished in the Tomb. Bergis didn't like thinking of that. It was a miracle that they made it where they were now. Omex held out a dungeon map that wrote itself as they walked the halls. In the corner of the map it read Room BF407.

Maybe the thing that is the most bugging to exploration teams about new dungeons was that you had absolutely how long the dungeon could go on for. The next floor could be the end, or you may not even be a tenth of the way in.

The longest recorded dungeon lasted to floor 328 in Blue Snake Crypt, achieved by Team Moonpass. Even if Team Madcrack ended up quitting, they could say they found a mystery dungeon that was even longer than that.

Of course, floor sizes contributed to the difficulty of the dungeon. Some floors were small, taking 5 or 10 minutes to find the next. Team Madcrack took an average of half an hour to progress to the next floor. At over 400 floors, they had been living off of the scraps they found in the mystery dungeon for about 3 weeks now.

When exploration teams embarked on these endurance dungeons, the term 'dungeon life' came up quite a bit. It was defined as they way you live for an extended time while traversing a dungeon. You only eat the few generated scraps of food found in the dungeon. When you rested, you did so with one eye open. Many develop claustrophobia or cabin fever as time progresses.

Perhaps the most uneasy feeling you could get while exploring a mystery dungeon was that escape orbs would cease to work after so many floors. It varied dungeon to dungeon, but a good rule of thumb was at roughly 100 floors, an escape orb only had a 50 percent chance of working. At 150 floors it may only work 25 percent of the time.

It was safe to say at 400 floors, you'd be pretty damn lucky to get an escape orb to teleport you to safety. Arno still kept one in his bag, however. No one was certain it worked or not until it was used. He latched all his hopes onto the orb.

Suddenly, Omex extended his wings in front of everyone to get them to stop. There was a rumbling. They all knew what that was – a feral around the corner. The few ferals that dwelled this far in were certainly a threat.

Then a deep huffing accompanied the rumbling. It was big, whatever it was. Bergis extended his leaves. Arno stood in a fighting form. The team had readied itself.

Just then, a huge druddigon blazed around the corner, yelling and stomping. The three pokemon were tired and sore, and were in no shape to combat a giant dragon. There was a high chance with every major encounter someone could die. It was something they had come to accept.

The roaring of the druddigon vibrated the walls around them, awaking any other ferals that may or may not be on this floor. Omex extended his wings for a psychic attack. The dragon winced a bit, but it was too weak. Arno came in with a charge, slamming the druddigon down. It began clawing up the grumpig. Bergis was there with a backup attack. With all three of them attacking the druddigon, they successfully defeated it.

Arno grasped his bleeding arm. His breathing was labored.

"Ugh, can I get something for this?" He winced in pain.

"There's nothing Arno", Omex sadly stated.

"A heal seed, a sitrus berry, a potion, anything?"

They checked their bags. Any healing items they had were used up long ago. Any new healing items they came across in the dungeon were way too far from few.

"Tough it out, Arno!" Omex said.

"Goddamn it!" Bergis added. "We need to get Arno fixed up somehow if we have any chance of fighting another feral!"

The druddigon's roar apparently had stirred up more trouble. Bergis felt his hairs stick up as he sensed something behind him.

"Oh shit!" Two claydol were barreling towards them. Arno was in no shape to fight them. The situation was looking bleak. However, whenever these situations came up, it was always Omex who got them out of it.

"Bergis, watch Arno!" He barked.

"No Omex! You can't take them!" Arno mustered as he tried to stand on his own.

"Stay back!" He ordered them. Omex lunged at the claydol. He knew his psychic attacks would do next to nothing on them, so he relied on his weaker physical attacking. One claydol shot a beam at him. He ducked immediately and slammed into the first one. The second claydol was successful in blasting Omex with its own beam. He continued to fight both of them, but he could only hold them off.

"Go Bergis, I'll be fine", Arno assured.

Omex sliced a claydol with his wing. But it seemingly did nothing. Just as the claydol closed in for a powerful attack, leaves started to slice them. Bergis had jumped in with razor leaf. Within a few leaf blades, he had finished Omex's work.

Omex leaned against the dungeon wall, fighting unconsciousness. He was bruised badly. Nobody was in the mood to move at the moment.

"This has to end, Omex", Bergis gasped. "We have to go home!"

Omex's answer was very unappealing to Bergis' statement.

"We don't know if we're even half way there!" Bergis continued.

"It could just be the next floor", Omex responded. "I'm not letting anyone here give up!"

Floor 411 was where things really started to heat up.

Omex pinned Bergis up against the wall. His eyes were bloodshot and dilated as he stared in Bergis's amber eyes.

"Listen to me god damn it", he said in a little more than a whisper. "I would rather die in this dungeon then give up. I have come too far. I've endured too much!"

Bergis pushed him back. "Get the hell off me!"

The two didn't even notice Arno pulling out an escape orb. Before Omex was going to sock Bergis, he caught Arno in the corner of his eye. Arno started to hold the escape orb up.

"NO!" Omex darted like a racecar to Arno and slammed the orb out of his palm, smashing it on the ground.

"What have you done?!" Arno roared. They had both come to the conclusion the Omex had officially lost his mind. They had never intended to go this far to begin with.

"No one is fucking leaving while I'm alive!" Omex declared.

"That can be arranged!" Arno taunted back.

"Are you saying…?!"

"Damn right!"

Things were getting extremely tense. As the two pokemon squared up to fight, a noivern was approaching behind Arno.

"Uh, guys!" Bergis announced. They both ignored him.

"I never wanted this Omex", Arno said. Arno let out a mighty yell before attacking the xatu. His arm swung into the air, and he suddenly turned around and bashed the noivern into the ground. Omex followed up by hammering the noivern even harder. Soon all of Madcrack was taking their anger out on this dead noivern that just happened to cross by.

When Arno was out of breath, he turned back to face Omex. Omex had no idea if he was still going to fight him. Instead, he spoke.

"I swear, Omex, you've doomed us."

Omex didn't respond. He stared at the grumpig.

Team Madcrack was out of supplies. They had no food and no healing items. Their escape orb was destroyed. There was no possible way they could back track out of the dungeon with the little strength they had left.

There was only one way to go – forward. Either they would come to the end within the next several floors, or they would die in the dungeon. Never in their life had any of them been so close to death.

After more long and tedious searching of the dungeon floor, they came across the stairs. All three of them knew that with a new floor came new danger and new ferals. Arno believed they wouldn't even make it a few more floors.

Imagine their surprise when they entered floor 412, and there was no dungeon. Imagine the faces of the hopeless, tired pokemon who spent more than three weeks in a mystery dungeon. It was almost unbelievable.

They were transferred into a large room. All three of them were caught off guard by the lack of closed in rooms and hallways. Nobody said anything for the longest time. They all stood and admired their surroundings. They were in a large, spread out room. A single hallway opened from the center wall. On one side was a new set of stairs.

A new set of stairs? Had the dungeon continued even past this point? It was all so much to take in. The most prominent feature though was the hallway. A dim, purple light illuminated the passage.

"Is… is it even possible?" Bergis asked weakly. He still seemed in denial of where he was. All those floors had taken a toll on their mind. It almost seemed absurd that the next level wasn't another normal floor.

"I think it is. I think we made it", Omex stated. Without another word, he started for the hall.

"Wait. Where are you going?" Arno asked.

"Where does it look like? I'm seeing what I've earned after coming this far down", he said.

"I think we should think this over…" Arno stated.

Omex ignored him and continued down the hallway. The shiftry and grumpig caught up to him. Omex wasn't in the mood to wait. He had been through enough.

The hallway was fairly long; the purple light grew as they walked further down the hallway.

"Omex", Arno said.

The xatu didn't turn around.

"Omex!" He yelled. Still no response.

"Hey!" Arno grabbed his shoulder.

"WHAT?!" Omex yelled in a rage. This caught Arno off guard. He had something to tell him, but changed what he was going to say when Omex responded the way he did.

"What's wrong with you, man? Calm down. Why are you acting like this?" Arno said. It wasn't like Omex to act this way at all, he was usually very kind and level headed, but something was off.

"I'm not acting like anything! Get off me!" Omex threw Arno's arm back to him, turned around, and continued walking the hallway.

Bergis and Arno exchanged a look to each other in mutual agreement. It was uncalled for the way he was acting. They knew the hardships of the dungeon took a toll on everyone's patience, but this was more than that.

Arno wanted to discuss a plan before bashing into an unknown hallway. What if a boss guarded the room? What if traps lied at the end? It was clear now though that Omex wouldn't be talked to. Whatever lied at the end of the hallway, they'd have to be ready for it that instant.

Bergis took notice of the walls of the hallway. Engraved were old hieroglyphs and unown, formed in a way to tell a story. He tried to make some of it out as he walked along with his teammates, but he was moving too fast. He knew asking to stop and look at them would be discouraged by Omex, so he didn't bother. He was sure it all told a story.

Team Madcrack made it to the end of the hallway. They marveled at the sight they had come across. The hallway led to a single room. A room, if you could call it that. It had no corners. The room was a cylinder, seemingly going up and down forever. A single stone bridge gapped the void below, leading to the center of the room.

As soon as Omex entered this place, a brilliant feeling of horror and awe overcame him.

"Oh my god…" He muttered. He was staring at a massive tornado of raging unown. They spiraled out of control in a twister formation, the brick walls keeping them confined in the space. His heart skipped a beat as the instinctive thought of attack crossed his mind.

To his surprise, the raging unown took no notice of the foreign pokemon in the room. They circled and circled, hundreds of them, perhaps thousands.

"What's in there?" Arno exclaimed.

He was pointing at a glowing light at the center of the unown twister. It was apparent now. These unown were spiraling directly around this alter in the center. As Omex squinted to see what it was they were revolving around, he noticed an item floating. _An amulet._

"Whatever's in there…" Omex started. "They're guarding it. Guarding it heavily."

The group stood still, staring at the amulet in the center. It must've been the ultimate prize for this dungeon. Despite not having any way of easily getting it, Omex wasn't going to leave without being in possession of it.

"No one can get it", Arno said after sometime. The sound of wind blew as the unown consistently disrupted the atmosphere.

"I'm going to try", Omex stated.

"It's suicide!" Bergis yelled.

"It was suicide coming into this damn dungeon to begin with but we're still alive, aren't we?!" Omex shouted back. He began to cautiously approach the unown. Perhaps there was a chance they would leave him alone as they were now.

Arno expressed his disapproval, but it was to no avail. No one wanted to fight Omex at the moment for his own good.

"Wait! The walls!" Bergis tried. "The walls tell a story of some sort. Maybe it'll help us figure out how to get the item."

Omex was just feet away from the unown. A shiver went down his body thinking about crossing into the twister. He took a second to think. Then decided to retreat.

"Alright Bergis", he finally said. "Let's see if there's something we can go off of."

Back in the hallway, Omex's feathers ran over the engravings. Everyone had studied them of a bit, but there wasn't much to go off of. It was then after sometime Omex found a picture of many unown in a twister fashion.

"Here", Omex announced. He guided himself across the engravings. There was a picture of a round object with a handle of some sort attached. He was sure it was the amulet.

"The unown are indeed guarding this thing here in the center", he stated to them.

"I see, but how do we get it?" Arno said, asking the obvious question.

Omex made a puzzling sound.

"Look here!" Bergis had found something.

There was an engraving of a pokemon. It had its hand held out toward the unown. It was seemingly being denied. A second portrait showed another pokemon that had something coming off of it. When it approached the unown, they allowed the pokemon the amulet.

"What does it mean?"

"It means this first pokemon was lacking something that the other one had. It allowed the second one to have the item", Omex explained.

"…What could it be?"

Unfortunately, they had no luck discovering anything else. Was a precursor device or artifact required for the extraction of the amulet? Had they passed something like that on the way down, and had missed it? Omex was growing impatient. He was becoming upset that much more information was displayed, but he couldn't make any of it out. No one else had any leads either.

Omex became fixated on an arrangement of unown on the wall. He had no idea what it meant, but it intrigued him more than anything else he saw yet. He felt an instinct to reach forward and touch the engraving. When he did, something really odd overcame him.

 _This is the chamber of the Amulet of Unown Power. Only those righteous and pure enough may be in possession of the artifact. Step forward, those of noble intentions. Those of selfish nature will parish in the storm._

Omex winced when this message he felt was over. He squinted his eyes hard and opened them.

"What happened?" Arno asked, both him and Bergis taking notice of this attack Omex took on.

"It spoke to me… Something did. The engravings, maybe a being, I believe it translated the engravings", he said, almost in denial.

Bergis and Arno were silent, wanting more than that. Omex looked up at them.

"Only the pure may be in possession of the amulet", he said, almost horrified.

"Only the pure? Are we pure? How do we know who's pure or not?" Arno said to them.

"Those of selfish nature will parish in the storm", Omex added after Arno's questions.

There was still not enough information to go off of.

"I think that's the point", Bergis started. "It's like a risk. You're gambling your life attempting to obtain the item. You'll never really know if you're pure or not until you attempt it." He coughed a bit.

At Bergis's words, Omex gazed back into the room. Everyone knew Omex was going to try it, no matter how he felt about himself.

He started for the room.

"Stop! Is it worth risking your own life?" Arno yelled.

"There's no stopping me, Arno. I'm going to try, no matter what." They followed Omex back into the room. They didn't want him to do it.

"Omex, I'm begging you! Please don't do this!" Arno continued. Bergis chimed in as well. Arno had an uneasy feeling with the way Omex had been acting recently, something very bad was probably going to happen.

"Are you implying that I'm not pure enough, Arno?! That I'm some selfish asshole?! I joined in this damn exploration team to help pokemon! How could that be selfish! I'll be damned if that amulet isn't mine!" Omex was very angry, angry that his team didn't believe in him. He was too delusional to realize they were trying to save his life. He was taking it the wrong way.

Omex continued towards the twister of unown. Arno could no longer stand it. He wasn't going to sit by idly and watch this happen. He sprinted towards Omex.

The xatu realized it at the last moment. Just before Omex came within the edge of the unown, he felt Arno's grasp. A large fight might've broken out hadn't the next thing happened. Arno was trying to save his life; he was trying to stop Omex from doing this to himself. When he grabbed Omex, he yanked him from the unown, trying to turn him around.

Omex struggled, and broke his way out of the grasp. Upon freeing himself, he hurled Arno away from him, launching him directly into the unown.

Bergis gasped at the sight. It had taken a terrible turn for the worst. Only then had Omex realized what he had done.

He turned around in horror. There Arno the grumpig was – knocked over onto the stone floor. The unown continued to spin. He was inside of their twister.

Bergis and Omex stared. He wasn't being attacked. The unown flew around him, seemingly ignoring his existence. Omex's face said it all. His beak hung open, eyes widened.

"I don't believe it…" He uttered. Immediately he attempted to join him. As soon as his wing entered the twister, it was immediately hacked off by the unown.

The xatu let out a nasty pitch of pain, confusion, and anger. He grasped his severed wing, blood oozing out of control. Bergis came to the rescue. He grabbed Omex and pulled him away. He might've stopped him, but he was incredibly weakened by what happened.

He started to shout nonsense. Something was _really_ wrong with him. Bergis believed he contracted some form of mania from being in the dungeon for too long. Everything felt like a dream, almost entirely surreal. Was any of this actually happening? Did Omex just lose his left wing?

Meanwhile Arno stood up. He was as shocked as Omex was when he realized he was unharmed. When he came to his senses, he realized he had been accepted by the unown. He took no extra time in walking towards the amulet. It illuminated a purple glow, suspended in the air. As he grew closer to it, he turned around to look at his team. Omex was shouting and ranting, grasping his severed wing and wincing in pain, while Bergis did everything he could to confine him.

Arno turned his attention back to the amulet. He held his hand out in reach of the amulet. He had thoughts of the unown attacking him as soon as he would touch it; he was sure something would go wrong.

The amulet now was surrounded by his palm. Arno brought it close to him. The engravings were beautiful, and the amulet gave off an aura of some sort. Arno noticed the unown still took no mind of him. He brought himself back across the bridge, coming out of the storm of unown.

He held the amulet up for everyone to see. Omex found himself back on his feet.

"Give it to me now!" He barked, his trembling wing extended.

"I was the one who obtained it Omex, I think I need to hold onto it!"

Omex responded with senseless yelling. It was extremely sad and embarrassing to see the way he was acting. Mania completely consumed him. He was delusional; and the fact he lost his wing wasn't helping. He _knew_ he wasn't pure now, more than ever. Now only his anger drove him.

They yelled back and forth, but Arno knew Omex was in no shape or mindset to have the item. He needed to calm down and act normal again.

It was only too late when Bergis noticed they were ready to break out into a fight while standing just a foot from the edge. Omex grabbed the amulet, trying to release it from Arno's grip. When he wouldn't release, he slammed his body into Arno's.

Arno was hurled off the edge, releasing the amulet. They both watched as the grumpig fell deep into the void, letting out his last yell he would ever make.

"EEUUAAAGHHH!" Bergis tackled Omex and started beating him to a pulp, tears flowing from his eyes. "What have you done?! What have you DONE?!" Omex didn't fight back. It took a while of punching for Bergis to notice Omex was unconscious, barely breathing.

What have you done…?

…What… have… you… done…

The words echoed in the xatu's mind. Omex stood upon a hill, the sun going down. He overlooked a small town in front of him called Syron Town. He was wearing his black cloak, one wing holding his traveler bag, the other wing holding a map.

He was going to fix what had happened. He was going to make things right.


	15. The Capture

It had been a long journey. Syron Town was a ridiculous length from Scarland City, and rightfully so, they were in different regions. Omex had a reason for traveling the distance he did. Soon, the first step of the plan would be finished. What made Syron Town such an important destination was that it lied just outside of a forest.

The Mystifying Forest was rumored to contain a certain pokemon. One that was near impossible to catch. However, a fact like this meant nothing to Omex. He did know though that trying during the day would be miles easier than trying at night.

The xatu gave a gentle knock on a door. Within moments, a vibrava answered the door. She looked up to see Omex within his black cloak. He was standing in front of Syron Inn.

"May I help you?" She asked.

"Is a room available?" Omex replied.

She gestured him in. The inn was quite impressive in size. As he walked in the entrance, he noticed a bar, several tables to eat at, stairs that he knew would go to rooms, and in the center of it all, a grand fireplace.

"Would you care for a meal?" The vibrava asked.

He nodded his head. Omex took a seat at a table, lifting the hood from his face. He wearily removed his bag and placed it on the floor beside him. He let his wings rest, now noticing how fatigued his entire body was. He had made great time, but at the expense of his strength. He knew a good night's sleep was vital for success of his operation.

As he waited for a meal, his sight wandered the room. He glanced at the bar, alcoholic beverages lined the shelves. It had been nearly 2 weeks since he had booze of any sort.

Did he crave it? Morbidly. He knew though, that it would not help the situation. He pulled his head away while unravelling his map, getting his mind onto something else. Time was running out for the mission. He only had one more day to complete it and if he was lucky, everything would line up tomorrow.

After a few minutes, the vibrava arrived with a plate of food. It contained a usual assortment of berries and vegetables, with a bread roll on the side.

"You'll be in room three, just up those stairs", she instructed him.

"Thank you."

After finishing his food, he grabbed his bag and headed upstairs. He passed room 1 and 2 before opening the next door.

Omex locked the door behind him.

After removing his cloak, he opened his bag and took out some red chalk inside a cardboard container that read "The number one red chalk brand for performing spells and rituals!"

Then he fumbled around a bit before finding a book. With it flipped open, Omex drew a large circle on the wood floor. What happened next was an array of writing – symbols, lines, dots. He constantly gazed over the book as he did so. When he was finished, he slipped the red chalk back into the box, and held his wings over the finished chart. He closed his eyes and started muttering an incantation.

Omex felt his body become light. Really light, in fact. He felt a rising feeling, but he didn't open his eyes. He continued to mutter. Soon he was completely weightless. His body had no feeling. That's when he opened his eyes.

Omex gazed at where he was. He was standing in a realm full of clouds. There was no defining floor, and no defining sky. These clouds were a deep gray color, and almost seemed like an illusion. In fact, the entire environment Omex stood in was not real, simply a conjuration.

He approved at where he was. It had been a while since he performed a contact spell, and he was afraid he wouldn't have succeeded.

It was just a matter of time now. There was a certain person he was contacting. They would arrive shortly.

Just as he thought, there was a sudden change in the realm. Shadowy wisps started appearing, before gathering together in front of Omex. The darkness condensed itself, and within several seconds, the silhouette of a pokemon was standing before him.

The shadow held together, with a light smoke rising from it.

"You've finally contacted me. I was wondering if you ever would", the shadow said. Its voice was harsh and impatient. Red smoke rose from the eye sockets.

"My apologies. I was caught up in some… unexpected events", he replied.

"Unexpected events? Like what? No one knows of the plan besides you and me", the shadow asked.

Omex's pupils wandered as he sought for a meaningful reply.

"Cardron's dead, is that correct?" Omex asked.

"To my knowledge he should be", the shadow said back.

"How shocked would you be if I told you that I encountered him at the Grandom Line?"

"Extremely shocking, considering I watched as he was buried. You're not possibly saying…?"

"I am. He was alive. And he tried to stop me", the xatu finished.

The shadow fell silent.

"Damn. I should've known that old man would pull something like this! It made no sense when he was declared dead!" The silhouette roared. "What happened? Tell me in detail!"

"He tried convincing me it was my fault what had happened. He tried to persuade me to stop the plan. I denied him. Then we broke out into a duel."

Omex took a deep breath.

"Apparently I won", he ended with.

"Did you kill him?" The shadow demanded.

"I watched his body tumble down the rocks of Grandom Line. That would kill any pokemon, I should know."

"But did you actually witness his death?! Did you find his body?!" The shadow erupted in more black smoke.

"The Grandom Line runs for miles! It would be nearly impossible to track. He could've washed up anywhere. I'm sure he died", Omex explained.

"Then he's not dead damn it!" The shadow paced back and forth. "Cardron faked his death for a reason. I'm nearly positive he didn't just roll over and die. He's still out there, and he will try to put a stop to us!"

The shadow shouted out in frustration, knocking something over, but the illusion just caused its arm to swing at nothing.

It rested its head against a brought up hand.

"The guildmaster has been a thorn in my side for 30 years now. Even when everything is finally coming together, that old man threatens to stop it."

"You're certain he's still alive?" Omex asked.

"Damn near sure!"

Omex remembered his fight with Cardron. He was entirely shocked that he had defeated him. Cardron was a grandmaster of combat. Omex knew his skills were absolutely nothing to scoff at, but beating Cardron at his own game? Improbable.

"I can't believe I defeated him", Omex announced. "It's really hard to believe. Is there a chance… that he might've _let_ me win?"

"I know I wouldn't be able to defeat Cardron myself. Either he really has gotten weaker, or… there was purpose in letting you win", the silhouette explained.

There was a moment of silence.

"I will deal with it later," the shadow pushed on. "What's your status? How is your end coming along? We're running out of time."

"I know", Omex replied. "I'm nearly there. I'm at Syron Town, right outside of the forest. I should have her tomorrow."

"I'm urging your haste Omex. It's only a matter of time before Cardron puts the pieces together and returns to Scarland. The plan must be activated before he gets here."

"Has he even suspected you yet?" Omex asked.

"I think he's had his doubts, but nothing so convincing he's taken action", the shadow said back.

"How is the guild running without him in charge?"

"It's been fine. Hephaestus is incredibly dense; he hasn't suspected a thing. That's bound to change soon though."

Thunder roared in the distance of the realm.

"We're running out of time. Hurry Omex. I need you to report to me immediately after the capture so I can begin phase 2."

"It will be so", Omex finished with.

The shadow suddenly dissipated. The thin wisps of shadow spread far apart before vanishing.

Omex held his head down and closed his eyes.

His body started to get heavier. He felt like he was being dragged down. When his eyes finally opened, he was sitting back on the floor of Syron Inn. Omex looked over the drawing on the floor. With a wave of his wing, the red chalk faded into nothing.

It was getting late. Omex had a huge day ahead of him. If he failed tomorrow, everything would collapse. This had to work. He _must_ succeed.

The xatu stood up, and packed all his things together. He made for the bed in the small room. It wasn't anything impressive. A faded red blanket laid across the bed frame. A single nightstand stood to the right. He climbed into bed, his muscles aching. Before he fell asleep he stared up at the ceiling. The roof was arched, rafters supporting the stone bricks above him.

 _I'm sorry Arno. You'll be back soon. I'll fix my mistakes, and everything will be right again. We can go back to being the team we always were. I just need a few more days._

Omex rolled over, and fell asleep.

* * *

It had been over almost 2 weeks now that Cortez had been in the guild with Luke. They had adjusted to the life they lived there. On every week day, they woke up, ate breakfast, and went to Mr. Sherm's class. After that was over, they ate lunch, and had the rest of the day to themselves to study and train.

So imagine their surprise when Tuesday came around, and the door to their classroom had a sign over it.

'Class has been cancelled for today. Be sure to study hard.'

"What does that mean?!" Sharp shouted out.

"It means no class, ya goof", Luke retorted.

The whole class had formed around the door, who were expecting their usual lecture for the day. Nobody really knew what to do at the sight of the sign.

"Eep! What do we do now?" Coraline cried out.

"Whatever, I guess", Cortez said. He was quite relieved he didn't have to sit through the honchkrow's lessons. Despite having a break from the classes on the weekend, it was a pleasant surprise that he had a break during the weekday.

The group of students talked to themselves for a bit, before trailing off in their own directions. Some of them went back to their rooms for some sleep. Others headed straight for the dojo.

"Why would he cancel class?" Luke asked. "He usually seems… so uptight about everything. I find it really odd."

"Maybe he's sick", Cortez responded.

"Possibly. Well, what do you want to do now? Can you believe the tournament is tomorrow? We should train for that!" Luke said.

Luke was completely excited for the tournament coming up. However, Cortez was reminded of his constant loses in battles he fought. He knew he was weak. He knew there was a good chance he wouldn't win, but he did his best to play it off. He was at least going to try for his team, and who knows? Maybe they'd get lucky.

"Alright let's go", Cortez said.

Dojo training had become a huge focus for Cortez. It was the one thing he cared about more than anything else he did. At the end of the month, team reassigning could be done, and then missions were officially taken on. It was hard to believe he was already half way there.

He had learned so much from Mr. Sherm surprisingly. Despite his tough lessons and harsh attitude, Cortez could boast a large familiarity with vegetation and their effects. He could craft potions from seemingly nothing. The only thing he considered lacking was his brute strength.

Luke and Cortez, as well as many other guild members trained hard for tomorrow. Skoll surprisingly spent much more time with them than usual, knowing that the new class was going to be fighting each other for the large cash prize. Without the stress of the teacher for that day, Cortez found it much easier to focus on combat. By the end of the day he thought that if he couldn't win, he would've seriously put a dent in the competition.

For the first time that day, Team Varien had visited Cortez and his friends.

"Just sniffing out the competition", Clyde said while inspecting them. "And it stinks!" Pretty much all the pokemon tensed up when Varien came around. They were tough, muscular, and not to be messed with. Everyone was on edge while Varien studied everyone.

Except Travino, that is.

Team Varien had been spying on their training here or there, and they immediately knew who was going to be a challenge. Clyde stared directly at Trav.

"Can I help you?" Trav asked, narrow eyed.

"Yeah, maybe you can!" Clyde immediately responded with. The gligar felt out the mudkip, who seemingly, also shouldn't be messed with.

"I heard you 'know' you'll win tomorrow. How's that?" Murdock the timburr asked.

"You think brute force will carry you through the tournament?" Travino returned.

"I sure think so. I'm gonna wipe the floor with you, mudkip", Clyde threatened.

It was heating up. Everyone else stepped away.

"You're nothing but talk, Clyde. You think because you were raised in a gang that makes you invincible?" Trav said.

"I think we should find out!" Clyde closed in, Murdock and Seamus backing him up.

Dash the drilbur quickly stood beside his partner, looking as brave as the mudkip.

Cortez believed that he would find out who was truly stronger in a matter of seconds. That was until a massive beartic stomped his way over.

"AH! THE NEW CLASS!" Hephaestus the guildmaster roared, standing 4 feet above everyone. All the tension immediately melted away, as the beartic had caught them off guard. His voice was ferocious, even at a quiet talking level.

"The tournament is coming up! Who's gonna win?!" He asked the group of young pokemon. Travino held his tongue, while Clyde happily piped up.

"Team Varien will win, Guildmaster!" He announced proudly.

"A hot head, aren't ya?" Heph exclaimed, patting the gligar roughly on the head. "Talk to me if you ever need to get that cooled down", he grinned, showing his menacing teeth. Clyde may have shivered a tad.

Skoll galloped around at the sight of his boss.

"Guildmaster…" The arcanine acknowledged.

"Training hard with the youngin's'?" The guildmaster asked Skoll.

"Yes sir. They've made incredible progress!" He beamed.

"Excellent! Keep at it, I'm excited to see what they're made of tomorrow!" After that, the guildmaster walked around the dojo, checking in on everyone else there.

Once he was out of sight, everyone returned their attention.

"Just watch your back…" Clyde threatened. He walked away with his group, not wanting to start anything while the guildmaster was around.

Travino watched them narrow-eyed until they were out of sight.

"What do you think of them?" Cortez asked while walking up to Trav.

"They're all stuck up jerks. We'll see just how tough he is…"

Because there was no class that day, Cortez was sure to cover some of that time studying. He was back in his room with his books flipped open. The day came to an end, with Sharp and Luke piling in the dorm room. Sharp and Luke looked like they had a lot of fun doing something while he was studying.

"Hey Sharp?" Cortez asked, while closing his books.

"Yeah?"

"I… just want to… thank you for believing in me. Tomorrow will be huge, and I don't want to let you down…"

The pawniard perked up, overcame by his comment. "No prob Cortez! Let's show them what we're made of tomorrow!"

Everyone went to bed with anticipation. Little did they know that tomorrow would hold much more than they could've ever expected.

The next day Cortez awoke to a normal day. Despite the tournament later on, everything else would carry on like usual.

Sharp bonked his head a bit to wake himself up. Luke stretched his body, his yawn slightly erupting some flames.

Luke looked over to Cortez sleepily. "We're probably going to end up fighting each other", he said.

"Don't tell me that…" Cortez shook his head at the thought.

After a nice breakfast, the pokemon headed down to Mr. Sherm's classroom. Once again, to everyone's surprise, the same note from yesterday was taped to the locked door.

"Again?!" Luke yelled.

This was terribly suspicious. Did anyone else know of this? Two days in a row Mr. Sherm had called off. It was completely unlike him. It was also odd that it just so happened to be during the time of the tournament. Cortez was happy that he had the day off yesterday, but now… This was not right.

Cortez was not the only one to find this odd. The rest of the class discussed what could be going on.

"Does the guildmaster know of this?"

"I'm going to forget everything I've learned!"

"What do they expect us to do all day?"

Cortez nudged Luke out of the confusion. The houndour's attention shifted over to his friend.

"What do you make of all this, Cortez?" Luke asked him quietly.

"What if this has something to do about what I said to him several days ago?" Cortez said.

"About him being forced to teach? Do you think he took that to heart and he thinks he's too strict?"

Cortez scratched the back of his head. "I don't know. Let's see if the Guildmaster knows what happened to him…"

Sneaking away from the class, Luke and Cortez cornered the hall and made their way towards Hephaestus's office. His office was located near the entrance of the guild building. It had been a while since they were around the entrance. Then again, it had been a while since they actually left the place.

Demeter the leafeon was at the front desk talking to some pokemon. Business was going on as usual. The door to the guildmaster's quarters was behind the desk Demeter was sitting at, so they decided to get in line.

Luke turned to Cortez as they waited in the grand hall.

"Do you think the guildmaster knows that he's been absent?" Luke asked.

"Of course! He's the guildmaster! I just thought he'd have us do something instead of freely wandering the guild all day."

The pokemon ahead were finished talking, and they both stepped up.

"Luke and Cortez", Demeter instantly said, recognizing them. "What can I do for you?"

"It's about Mr. Sherm", Cortez started.

Demeter's face grew dark. "Oh jeez, what about him?!" She looked to be prepared to take on some devastating news, which entirely wasn't the case.

"It's just about him being absent. We were wondering…"

Demeter instantly cut him off. "Mr. Sherm's absent?! What do you mean?!"

This was getting more odd by the minute. Demeter's reaction said a lot of things. Mainly, they didn't know he wasn't there.

"Yeah, he's been gone for two days now!" Luke added.

Demeter threw a bit of a fit before telling them to wait there. She took off into the back room.

Within a few seconds, the guildmaster was ducking under the doorframe to the front desk.

"Demeter tells me ol' Sherm is missing! Is that so…?" He asked.

Cortez became frightful of Heph, like it was his fault he wasn't there. His questions – and speech in general – were very intimidating.

"Yeah… there's a note over his door…" Cortez answered.

The guildmaster told them to go with him as he checked it out. Mr. Sherm's classroom was the last door at the end of the hallway, so going all the way down there was pretty much only done by the new students. Cortez followed the beartic, feeling the vibration of every stomp. The guildmaster was gargantuan. He seemed hostile as well at the moment, something Cortez hoped he'd never be the cause of.

When Heph made his way to the hallway of classrooms, some of the pokemon from Mr. Sherm's class were still there.

"Why are all you kids just standing out here?" He roared at them. Everyone nearly lost their breath at his question. They just pointed at the door.

Hephaestus stood a foot higher than the door. He knelled down and ripped the note off.

'Class has been cancelled for today. Be sure to study hard.'

He was speechless as he stared at it. He racked his brain as he studied the note.

Finally, he spoke. "This has been up since yesterday as well?" He asked out loud.

Everyone confirmed him.

He glanced at the note for a while longer before standing up.

"Sherm has supposedly had perfect attendance for the 30 years he's been teaching!" Heph let out. "This is very strange…"

The beartic looked up at the class who were staring at him, waiting for something else to be said.

"Well…?! Go make yourselves useful or something! I have to figure this out", he announced, the class nearly running from him.

* * *

Morning came sooner for Omex than expected. The sunlight shone into the window of the room 3 that he was staying in. He must've slept like a rock, because he swore that he had fallen asleep less than ten minutes ago. Omex took no time climbing out of bed and preparing his gear.

Despite a full night of sleep, he was still entirely sore, he joints ached, but he knew he had to fight through it. The xatu slung on his traveler bag after wrapping his black cloak around himself. When he opened the door to go down the stairs, he realized just how early it was. There were no pokemon attending the main room of the inn, and all was quiet.

Fresh dew accompanied the grass outside. Before doing anything else, he made his way up to the kecleon mart, which had just opened for the day.

"Morning", the kecleon greeted. All his wares were proudly displayed in the small shack. "Can I get you something?" He asked his first potential customer of the day.

"Two sitrus berries, a blast seed and a heal seed, if you may", Omex said calmly.

The kecleon had already gone under his table before Omex even finished his order. He waited as the kecleon retrieved his items.

"Know anything about the forest dungeon up ahead?" Omex asked, making small talk with the kecleon.

"Ah, yes. The Mystifying Forest", kecleon started. He brought some seeds to the counter. "It's an attraction point for the town. It boasts one of the most beautiful forest dungeons in existence. Are you exploring it today?"

"I am. Any tips?" Omex already knew everything to know about the dungeon ahead, but he wanted the kecleon's take on it.

"I'd be very careful, sir. The dungeon is fairly easy in the early floors, but grows exponentially harder as you go on. I sure hope you have a few escape orbs with you."

"I do." Omex slid some coins on the table before grabbing his fetched items.

"They say, at the end of the Mystifying Forest, a legendary pokemon lives there!" The kecleon added.

Omex chuckled. "I'm counting on it…"

The kecleon became puzzled. "Really? Why's that?"

Omex left without giving him an answer.

Back outside, some residents of Syron Town were coming out of their houses and cleaning their porches. Some pokemon started to walk down the street, greeting each other. Omex had his black hood up. When the residents looked his way, it wasn't with a smile. He knew he didn't exactly look friendly at the moment, but had no idea of how dark his facial expressions had really become.

Omex started down the path towards the Mystifying Forest. Capturing this legendary pokemon would not be easy, but he had a few tricks up his sleeve he never had before. He was anxious to try them out. He found the entrance to the forest mystery dungeon, and he made his way in, with his heart racing.

Let it be known that Omex doesn't get impressed easily. It had been a long time since anything had really awed him, but this was a time.

His eyes widened at everything in the dungeon. It was gorgeous. Beautiful, large flowers brightened the walls. They were vibrant and varied in color. The trees were even more impressive. They were tall, the bark seemingly etched in patterns and designs. Everything from the grass to the leaves seemed tailored to be as impressive as they could possibly be.

He reminded himself of Cortez, who he knew would be gawking over the scenery, if he was with him. He would've barely been able to pull him away from it. That's how amazingly beautiful it was.

He now knew the legendary pokemon was here. The gorgeous scenery of this dungeon must've been from the influence of this pokemon.

He stood a bit, his experienced sight taking in the scenery.

"What a lovely, lovely place…" He said to himself, something he almost never did.

He couldn't doddle any longer though, his mission must be completed. He blinked a few times, refocusing his mind, and plowing into the dungeon.

The first few floors were less than a breeze. Half the ferals were clueless, and barely knew how to attack. Single whisks of his wings defeated them. It was the expected pokemon of a low levelled forest dungeon. He came across rattatas, spinaraks, weedles, seedots, nothing impressive at all.

He made great progress. Within the hour he was more than ten floors in. However, the kecleon was right. Suddenly the pokemon became tougher. Far more menacing with every new floor. The rattatas became raticates, weedles became enraged beedrill. It was so sudden, almost unnatural.

Still, it was no challenge for Omex, he had been in even higher level forest dungeons just to get here. He had no problem defeating them, he was just impressed at the radical difficulty spike in the same dungeon.

He continued to progress floors. The enemies hadn't reached their strongest threshold yet. At this point, single psychic attacks didn't work. He dodged the swing of a tropius before landing an ice shard attack upon it. He was breaking a sweat now, but still, no problems. He was at the height of his power, even more so than when he was in the Isolated Tomb. It was odd how strong he had become. It wasn't from training; it wasn't from luck. He was just far stronger than ever, but it didn't dawn on him why.

He started to rely on his map now more than before. He had an advantage though. This forest dungeon had been completed before, and he knew how many floors it contained. He could be ready for the end far before he reached it.

Several hours past. It was noon now. He completed the last floor of the dungeon. He had made it out, and now was standing in the center of the forest.

Omex knew a thing or two about the pokemon he was hunting, and took advantage of that. He crept along, hiding behind trees.

She lives here, somewhere. She'll wander a bit, but I'll find her, he thought to himself.

More searching. It had to be completed by the end of the day. He knew how close he was. He was one of the first pokemon to be in the center of the Mystifying Forest in a long time. She wasn't expecting any guests.

Finally.

Omex the xatu snuck up behind a bush. He didn't make a single sound. There, in front of him, was a small green pokemon with large eyes and two antennae. This was it, the moment he had waited weeks for. Immediately, he began some spells to himself.

The green pokemon was tending to some berries at a bush. Instantly, she perked up. She heard a noise. Then her head whipped around at the sound of someone talking.

"Ah, Celebi. You don't know how long I've been looking for you!"

The xatu immerged from the surrounding forest. His eyes were dark, his expression ruthless. His hood covered the top part of his head.

Celebi strained herself where she was, but nothing happened. Omex knew exactly what she was doing.

"Oooh, I'm sorry! Teleportation's not going to work this time."

"Who are you? What do you want?!" She said forcefully, but in fear.

"I have a plan, darling. One that requires your power!" Omex announced.

"I'll never comply to you! You evil xatu!" She piped out.

"I figured as much, but that is unnecessary for execution. All I need to do is capture you!"

Celebi's eyes glowed, ready to attack. "You'll never defeat me!" The statement tried to be a threat, but it went over like a lead balloon.

Omex chuckled. It grew to a loud psychotic laugh that freaked Celebi out. This wasn't just a xatu. She could tell something was infused with it.

"You're in for a rude awakening!" He retorted.

Suddenly, there was movement all around her. She glanced around, looking to see what it was. Then, behind the tree lines, many sableye emerged, forming a large circle around her.

Her heart jumped a beat at the sight of these ancient pokemon. Sableye only lived to serve. She now knew an old, evil power was stirring. Her heart raced, but she braced for battle, obviously out numbered.

"A little fight in you. I like that!" Omex's eyes erupted in black smoke. He extended his wings. "I've been waiting to try this new stuff out!" The xatu charged at her.


	16. Tournament Battles

Chapter XVII – Tournament Battles

* * *

Cortez realized the upcoming tournament was now closer than ever. When the class entered the dojo for the first time that day, it was not arranged as it usually was. All the equipment to train on had been pushed away and grouped in the corner. A few pokemon could be seen setting up a mat. Bleachers were being cleaned.

Even more unusual was the fact that Skoll the arcanine was not training anyone at the moment. In fact, no one was training. Skoll could be seen talking to a few construction pokemon. Upon seeing the class enter, he turned around and galloped up to them.

"Alright, so I heard about the Mr. Sherm situation", Skoll announced to all of them. "That will give you a little more time to prepare yourselves. We start right after lunch. Here, this paper shows the bracket for the fights." Skoll handed Bravo the blitzle the paper, since he was in front of everyone else.

"Oh boy", Bravo exclaimed. "We're the first fight. And we're fighting… Team Nexus!"

"I'll let you guys look that over. We start in several hours." Skoll mentioned before walking away.

Cortez got a look at the paper. The first fight would be Fairblade vs Nexus. The second fight would be Mudwave vs Flowerpuff. Fight 3 would be Soar vs Varien.

"Ugh", Luke groaned.

"You better believe it!" Murdock let out. "You guys don't stand a chance!" He yelled at Luke.

"Best of luck to you", Cortez mentioned to Bravo. He nodded, his way of returning the saying. Cortez found Sharp and Anna, and went over some strategies.

"Alright guys. We've been training hard for several days now. Do you think we can handle Team Fairblade?" Cortez asked, huddled around his team. They were off in a corner of a dojo, talking in private. Several other pokemon saw this, and decided to group up with their own teams as well.

Anna was not so enthusiastic about fighting her fellow peers. "I guess so", she said, disapproval oozing from her tone.

Cortez passed on her negativity, thankfully Sharp was pumped about it all. "We're gonna waste them!" He exclaimed.

"Uh, Sharp… Waste means kill them", Anna added.

"Oh… We're gonna… R… render them… unable to fight?" Sharp struggled. Technically it was a more correct statement, but didn't sound as cool.

Cortez moved on. "So, I've been going over some strategies. Adam seems pretty smart, but not too strong. Coraline is… well… Coraline. But Bravo will probably put up a decent fight. So we need to get him out of the way early."

"I suppose I can take a STAB at it!" Sharp exclaimed, jabbing the air with his knife. It made Anna jump.

"Sharp, are you making a pun or referring to a move that will give you a Same Type Attack Bonus?" Cortez asked.

"Both, actually", Sharp said happily.

"Okay, so, you'll be the main offense going in towards Bravo. Anna will back you up. I will keep Coraline and Adam distracted", Cortez explained. Anna remained quiet.

"We could use some feedback, Anna…" Cortez said to her.

She sighed. "It sounds good. I'll back up Sharp."

"I've actually never seen you train. How good are your fire attacks?" Cortez asked.

"They're pretty hot." She smiled.

Meanwhile, over at Team Soar's huddle…

"I'm gonna breathe TONS of fire!" Luke yelled a little too loud. His plan wasn't very complicated. "Lawrence, you're going to breathe tons of goop!"

"But I can't breathe goop!" The grimer bubbled back.

"Uh… Do you shoot it?"

"I mean, I can…"

"You'll shoot TONS of goop at them!"

"T'will be a good show!" Azoth the shelmet chimed in. "Lots of fire! Lots of toxic goop will have them running like babies!"

"B-but I hear Clyde fights pretty well", Lawrence mentioned.

"AND?!" Luke shouted.

"Uh… nothing, I mean", the grimer concluded.

The houndour faced Azoth.

"Then Azoth, you're going to stomp on their ashes! Or whatever is left of them…"

"Huzzah! The ultimate victory dance!"

During the time the Teams were huddled, practicing moves and going over strategies, the construction pokemon made decent progress on the fighting ring set up. It was not too long before lunch time came around. They were mere hours away from the fight.

Cortez grabbed his food from the octillery chef. He headed back to his long table in the cafeteria. Luke was already stuffing his face as he usually did. Cortez sat by him, staring at his food. He wasn't really hungry, he moved his food around with his silverware.

"What's bothering you?" Luke asked before even swallowing his food.

"Mr. Sherm."

"Oh, that's not your fault." Luke shoveled more food in his hatch.

"Yeah, maybe. I just can't stop thinking about how the guildmaster said he never missed a day in 30 years. Then he doesn't show up shortly after what I wrote."

"He was pretty pissed, wasn't he?"

"I disappointed him." Cortez finally took a bite of some food.

"Corty, the dudes been teaching for 30 years. Don't ya think he's experienced much worse than that in all that time? Surely it's not because of you."

"I guess."

They ate some more quietly. Word was getting around of Mr. Sherm's disappearance. Over at the staff table, Hephaestus could be heard loudly talking about it. Samirah, Demeter, Skoll, and a few older pokemon sat around him.

"The nerve! He didn't even give us a notice or anything! Just straight up no-showed!" Heph yelled, his low voice cutting through the drabble of all the other pokemon. "If he didn't want to teach the new class, why did he transfer to them then?"

Cortez started a new conversation with Luke.

"So, Team Varien, huh…" Cortez mentioned.

"Yeah, yeah. Look, whatever happens, I will have tried my best. That's the most important thing!"

Cortez was next to positive Soar would lose to Varien. It meant he wouldn't have to fight Luke after all.

"You could win", Cortez said, not really meaning it.

"That sounds insincere…" Luke pointed out.

"Maybe it is."

Luke chuckled. "Oh Corty… Have some faith in me."

It was hard to when Cortez remembered just how easily he was rocked by Clyde. Sharp went down quickly too, his team didn't stand a chance. Yes, Luke was stronger than him, but it didn't make much of a difference.

Cortez and Luke took their empty bowls up to the counter. A sneasel, the assistant chef, took them. Lunch was wrapping up. A lot of the pokemon were getting antsy over the fight.

"Hey Sharp, want to scout out the dojo?" Cortez asked with Luke.

He accepted and they headed off a tad early to check the place out. When they got there, many things had changed. All the training equipment was now visibly gone. Chairs lined the raised arena platform. Bleachers were filling up with pokemon he had never seen before. They were normal denizens of Scarland City. Demeter was behind a table, taking care of a forming line of pokemon.

She was charging them for entry in the dojo.

"Really? The guild is charging for this?" Luke exclaimed.

"Where do you think the prize money comes from?" Skoll said suddenly behind them. They both jumped. "It also helps get our guild more recognition. It's a win-win all the way around."

"Oh. Okay. Sorry", Luke said back to him.

"Hey, no sweat bud! What do you think of the place?" Skoll asked.

Cortez looked around. The lights were dimmed. A single floodlight poured into the center of the ring. Red carpet lined around it. Everything looked organized and immaculate for a grand fight.

"You've outdone yourself", Luke complimented.

Skoll smiled back. "Thanks. We start soon. Be ready." He trotted off.

"I'm kind of nervous", Sharp admitted. Cortez nodded his head back.

The rest of the student pokemon made their way into the dojo. Skoll instructed all of them to sit in the chairs in the front. Cortez made small talk with Anna and Sharp. As time passed, the dojo gained more and more outside pokemon, and became louder. Soon the place was packed. The bleachers contained a massive variety of pokemon.

Cortez could hear Demeter yelling in the distance to the guildmaster.

"Huge turn out! Just about the whole city, I'd say!"

"Love it, love it!" Heph yelled back.

Everyone watched as the huge beartic made his way up to the ring. When he was in the center, the pokemon in the stands started to quiet down. A corded microphone descended from the ceiling. Hephaestus grabbed it immediately.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" He bellowed out. His voice was fierce, full of excitement. The audience started cheering at the start of the event.

"Our 63rd annual Student Battle Tournament is coming to a start! I am the Scarland City Guildmaster, Hephaestus!"

More cheering. Heph looked the happiest Cortez ever saw him, like he took real pride in this event. He continued.

"We host this tournament to present to you the talent and training learned here in our beloved guild! Our young, aspiring explorers have learned much in the two weeks they've been here, and are excited to demonstrate what they've learned through their training! Without further ado, LET'S GET IT ON!"

The crowd exploded in cheers. Cortez gulped. The fact that everyone would be watching overwhelmed him. Especially because he was the first battle, and had to set the tone for the rest of them.

"I'd like to present the first battle! Team Fairblade!" Heph announced.

Skoll nearly yanked them up and told them to get up there.

"Team Fairblade consists of Adam, Coraline, and Bravo!" The pokemon stood in the ring beside Hephaestus.

"They will be battling Team Nexus!"

Skoll was right behind Cortez. He was up before the arcanine could shoehorn him into the ring.

"Team Nexus consists of Cortez, Sharp, and Anna!"

Cortez followed Anna and Sharp down the carpet and to a set of stairs into the ring. They stood opposing the other team.

"Alright, the rules are simple. First team to get the other team's members all to be unable to battle at the same time wins!"

The guildmaster was incredibly loud up close. Cortez's eardrums stung, he wondered if it would cause him to perform worse. Heph took a huge step back.

"And, FIGHT!"

It was so sudden, but it had begun. Cortez's fear melted away as he mentally entered the battle.

Bravo started charging electricity.

"Go Sharp!" Cortez yelled out, relying on him more than ever.

Sharp was quick, he stepped in, blades ready. Adam stepped in to block, vines emerging from his body. Before they could come in contact with Sharp, Anna's ember singed them away.

Bravo blasted some electricity. Sharp ducked under it, and sliced the blitzle. Coraline dove in to help, but Cortez let out a lightning bolt that surprised her. As Cortez focused to put Coraline down, Sharp and Anna were busy with Bravo. Cortez let loose more electricity, successfully hitting Coraline some more. He was sure he'd have her out soon, but things got complicated as he felt Adam's vines wrap around his body.

He struggled to get himself loose, but Coraline dove in and started kicking him.

 _This went bad quickly,_ he thought to himself. Cortez burst out more electricity hoping to free himself or do damage, but without being in contact with Adam, it was useless. He continued to get kicked around by Coraline. He fought to stay conscious. He was forming a burning frustration for the mime jr., because he was getting attacked by her and all he could do was take it like a man.

Cortez could hear Bravo shouting out from behind him. Then within an instant, metal blades cut the vines open. As soon as he was free, he tackled Coraline. His strength was weakened from the kicks. She used a weak psychic, but it was enough to throw him off of her.

 _Dang, she's better than I thought. So is Adam. They had this planned out._ Cortez shot out more electricity at Coraline. It made contact again. She threw a fit in pain. Cortez turned around and saw Anna finishing off Adam with a flamethrower. Sharp was keeping Bravo at bay.

A kick came at Cortez but he dodged it and scratched her. Anna backed him up and tackled her. She was unconscious. Cortez was dazed, but when he finally looked around, Bravo, Adam and Coraline were defeated. He could barely stand. Anna was looking worn as well.

"Team Nexus takes battle one! They will be moving ahead!"

Cortez was relieved. Several guild pokemon helped Team Fairblade up and escorted them off the ring.

He sat back down in his chair exhausted. Luke was there to greet him.

"Man, great fight!" He yelled. Cortez's body pulsed in pain.

"Yeah, was it good?" He fought to say.

"You took some real punishment! Adam had ya tied up! Just kept getting kicked!" Luke explained, yelling over the roars and cheers of the audience.

Cortez remembered all too well. He turned left, and Anna was sitting beside him.

"You sure distracted Adam and Coraline alright", she said.

"Yeah, with getting beat up!" Cortez said back.

"But it let me and Sharp focus on Bravo. Once he was out of the way, we helped you as soon as we could."

Anything else needing to be said was interrupted by the guildmaster's obnoxiously loud voice.

"BATTLE TWO!" He shouted with the mic, back in the center of the ring.

"A battle of Team Mudwave and Team Flowerpuff!"

Nancy the abra, Alice the hoppip, Floyd the machop, Travino the mudkip and Dash the drilbur headed up to the ring.

"Look, I'm just happy we'll be in the second round!" Cortez yelled at Luke.

"I gotcha! You did good!" He replied.

"Fight!" Heph jumped down. Cortez was highly interested to see how this fight would go. He watched closely.

Floyd took no time charging at them. Nancy and Alice followed closely behind him. Dash instantly used rock tomb on them. They dodged the oncoming rocks but during that moment Trav blasted a water gun while they were distracted. It mainly hit Floyd, but Alice and Nancy received some damage too.

Cortez then realized that Mudwave was at a constant disadvantage with only having 2 members, while everyone else had 3. If they could win, it would be with incredible talent.

Alice used razor leaf. Dash jumped in front of Travino and sliced all the leaves away. Suddenly, Travino used water gun on the back of Dash. He was propelled in the air, and smacked down on top of Alice, fainting her.

"DID YOU SEE THAT?!" Luke wailed. It was extremely impressive. Was that the special tactic they were talking about?

"That was incredible", he heard Anna mention besides him. "I wonder how much training that took for such precision."

It got even more impressive. After Dash landed, Travino ran and jumped on Dash. Dash caught him, and gave him a boost in the air. As Nancy and Floyd were coming back to their senses, Dash used earthquake. The ring started rocking violently. The two opposing pokemon struggled to keep their footing.

"That's smart for Dash to do that while Trav was launched in the air!" Luke yelled.

Then while Trav was in the air, he shot water guns on both the pokemon. They were obviously overwhelmed. Dash finished both of them off with a large tackle. Travino landed behind him with an elegant flip, which was seemingly to show off.

Cortez questioned to himself if all that really happened. It was absolutely marvelous. The timing, precision, balance, all of it. The mudkip and drilbur were incredibly talented.

"When did they even get time to practice that?! I never saw it!" Cortez said to Luke. Luke just shook his head, speechless.

"Insane… totally insane…" He finally managed.

Cortez then leaned back and looked several seats down. "Hey Clyde!" He yelled.

The gligar turned to look at him.

He was sweating.

"You think you can beat that?" Cortez taunted at him.

"We got… Yeah. We have… We can do better…! Yeah…" Clyde showed how nervous he was. He was stuttering, looking for his confidence. He was just as wowed as everyone else was at their incredible stunts.

"A STUNNING VICTORY FOR MUDWAVE!" Hephaestus let out. The audience yelled louder than ever, and at this point everyone was sure Mudwave would win the competition.

"It's not over folks, there's still more! Battle 3 comes down to Team Soar and Team Varien!"

"Your time to shine, Luke!" Cortez cheered.

Luke was more enthusiastic than Cortez would've ever thought he could be, especially with fighting Varien. He shouted out, leapt out his chair and ran up to the ring. As he went up, he passed Travino and Dash going down, who weren't even hurt from their previous battle.

Cortez was getting anxious for this next battle. Team Varien was strong. Luke had his strengths, but he questioned Azoth's and Lawrence's.

As the guildmaster introduced the pokemon, Clyde raised both his claws and shook them, showing off the confidence he had regained when he entered the ring. Luke looked focused as ever.

"Battle three! Start!"

Luke instantly let out a flamethrower. Team Varien ran in different directions, spreading out and dodging the attack. Clyde ran right up to Luke, no fear, no guard, and bashed him with his claws. Luke yelped and was thrown backwards. Lawrence used sludge bomb on Clyde, which made contact. Right after however, Murdock kicked the pile of purple goop that was his body off in the distance with Luke.

Surprisingly, Azoth panicked and shut his helmet closed, sitting there. Cortez was amazed at how much of a wuss Azoth really was. Clyde jumped over Azoth, saving his strength. He confronted Luke again, who was getting up. Seamus accompanied him. Murdock was wrestling with Lawrence. He ended up attaching to the timburr, and Murdock stumbled around, fumbling with the grimer.

Luke burst out more flames. Clyde dodged it instantly. The flamethrower ended up coming in contact with Lawrence, who was apparently flammable. Flames arose from the grimer. Murdock was yelling at the top of his lungs in pain, only to be matched with Lawrence's yelling.

This had taken a pretty bad turn. Murdock fell on the ground, rolling around with Lawrence, both of them on fire.

Luke tackled Seamus and let loose flames on his face, but was bashed over by Clyde again. Luke was in lots of pain, but he stood again. He tried another flamethrower. Clyde dodged, but ended up tripping over Azoth, who was wandering the arena blind with his helmet shut still. Clyde landed onto the grimer, which was still on fire. He struggled to get the purple goopy body off of him, but Lawrence was stuck to him like tree sap.

Seamus was now getting up, feeling his singed face. Luke tackled him again, letting loose a second round of flames on his face. When he was sure he wasn't getting back up, he turned his attention over to his surroundings. Azoth continued to wander around blind. Murdock had fainted from exhaustion of fighting the grimer. Seamus was finished. Clyde eventually extinguished Lawrence's flames from constant punching, but by then he was so tired he couldn't fight anymore. He failed to get Lawrence off of him. His arms fell to his side, his body laid limp.

"I lost to a grimer", he mumbled to himself.

"THE VICTORY GOES TO TEAM SOAR!" Heph yelled.

Cortez couldn't believe his ears. Luke had won. Their stupidity mixed with Varien's stupidity had given them the victory.

It was unbelievable. The entire class had their jaws dropped. Team Varien was bested by the mistakes of Team Soar. Azoth had contributed a good deal by being blind and frolicking around.

The pokemon were escorted off the ring.

"Sorry for hitting you with those flames", Luke said to Lawrence.

"That's okay. It hurt at first but then it kind of felt good. I think it burned off a few calories. Do I look thinner?"

When Luke got back to his seat, Cortez had a hundred questions.

"Holy hell! Did you guys plan that?!" Cortez asked.

"What?"

"The fire thing with Lawrence!"

"Oh, no. That was definitely an accident. Worked well though."

Later on, Cortez got confirmation that Azoth had indeed accidentally tripped Clyde over, and he got a kick out of that for a while. Team Varien was very ashamed of themselves, and for the first time Cortez saw Clyde yelling at his team mates. They responded by asking why he tripped over the shelmet. He mumbled his response and left it at that.

"We're going to take a short intermission!" Heph announced into the microphone. "After that, we will begin the next battle – Team Nexus vs Team Mudwave!"

Upon hearing that, Cortez wondered if it was a good idea to quit right now. There was no way that he and his team had a chance of defeating them. After the announcement of the intermission, some pokemon got up to move around a bit. Cortez saw the octillery behind a counter handing out drinks and popcorn.

The guild was certainly capitalizing on these fights as much as they could. Suddenly, Travino and Dash approached Cortez and his team. Cortez took the first moment to congratulate them.

"Guys, that was amazing what you did out there", he told them.

"Thanks, it wasn't much. I'm more surprised that he won't be fighting Team Varien after all. They sure acted tough, but I can't get over how much they underestimated fighting a grimer", Dash mentioned.

Lawrence perked up at hearing himself being mentioned.

"You had a lot to do with it though, Luke. You're one tough houndour, taking Clyde's tough hits", Trav added.

"Yeah, they hurt badly, too", Luke responded.

"After beating Team Nexus, I'll be seeing what you really got", Travino said. He was already assuming they'd beat Nexus, and Cortez didn't have a problem with that, because he also believed his team wouldn't win.

A few minutes passed, and pokemon began returning to their seats. The intermission was almost over. It gave time for the battlers to ready and refresh themselves, and Anna and Sharp were ready to fight again.

Cortez knew it was over when he spotted the white bear returning to the ring. He gulped knowing how bad Trav's water attacks would sting. He wondered if his team would be able to even get any hits in on them. He wondered if he should even give it his all, knowing he'd lose. It would be easier to end the battle quickly then drawing it out. Then he realized he couldn't give anything but his best, because he knew his team mates would do their best as well.

Whatever would happen, he would at least give it everything he had, he decided.

The guildmaster grabbed the microphone. "ROUND TWO! We have the winners from round one going up against each other! Team Nexus and Team Mudwave! Come on up!"

Travino and Dash elegantly made their way up to the ring. Cortez, who was nervous, followed behind them. Anna and Sharp had exchanged some words of hope, but he didn't think it would mean much.

Cortez entered under the floodlight of the ring for the second time. He was at least happy his team had gotten through a weaker team before getting completely flattened. They had accomplished something in the end, it couldn't be said for Team Varien.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen! We have an exciting fight here! You all know the rules, first team to get all the opposing team's members unable to fight will win!"

Just then, the giant doors of the dojo flew open dramatically. Light from the outside poured into the dimmed arena. Before Hephaestus could continue, everyone looked over.

It was Mr. Sherm.

He extended his wings, and flapped them into the air. He flew over to the center of the ring. Behind him was Team Blacksun. The cacturne, krookodile, and crawdaunt pushed people aside to follow him. Everyone became confused. Mr. Sherm landed beside the beartic, and swiped the mic from him.

"Sherm! What's the meaning of this?!" Heph yelled. Mr. Sherm ignored him. He began to speak into the microphone.

"Good evening pokemon of Scarland City!" He shouted out. Team Blacksun were now in the ring as well, looking as menacing as ever. The krookodile alone was the same size as Heph. Cortez couldn't believe his eyes. His own teacher had shown up out of nowhere, along with Team Blacksun.

Many, many ideas flooded into Cortez's mind with what was going on. It seemed too odd that Mr. Sherm would've brought Team Blacksun to fight his class of pokemon, so he excused that idea. Mr. Sherm continued on, revealing more as he spoke.

"I would like to personally thank all of you for being here at this event and making this miles easier on us!" He exclaimed. In between the honchkrow's talking, screams of pokemon could be heard outside the dojo. Everyone began to panic.

"As of now, every one of you pokemon are now captives of the city. Any resisting will result in your death!"

Within the moments of that phrase, a flood of sableye poured into the dojo. All the pokemon in the stands started yelling in fear, jumping from their seats, trying to escape.

The guildmaster had a hard time realizing what was happening. "Sherm, what are doing? Tell me what's going on as of this moment!"

"You have been officially demoted from being the guildmaster! Blacksun, put him down!" Mr. Sherm ordered.

Hephaestus roared in anger at Mr. Sherm's words. The beartic swung his claws around in rage and fury as the three dark type pokemon attacked him.

The pokemon from the stands were now attacking these sableye, but they were strong, and there was so many of them. Utter chaos had completely broken out. Pokemon were dying, the entire city was being taken over from the outside in. Mr. Sherm had chosen the perfect time to execute this plan, while most of the population was distracted in the dojo.

"Mr. Sherm! Why are you doing this?!" Cortez cried out to his teacher.

"Don't call me Mr. Sherm anymore. I am no longer your teacher!" He barked.

Travino let out a war cry of sorts and lunged towards his former teacher. Sherm slapped him out of the air with great force and the mudkip bounced off the ring onto the ground.

A sableye jumped in front of Sherm. "Kill everyone who opposes our command. Be sure not to harm the houndour or helioptile, we need them as they are!" Sherm ordered it. The sableye nodded and jumped back into the crowd.

Cortez tried blinking several times to undo this nightmare. It was unbelievable what was happening. He looked over and saw that Hephaestus had been slain by Team Blacksun. All the pokemon that were resisting were being put down. The shouts became quieter overtime. It was only a matter before Sherm had everything under his control.

Behind him, Anna had curled up in fear and anguish. Sharp stood there, in total confusion and disbelief. They both knew it was no use fighting. Cortez saw his class attacking the sableye below, including Luke, but they were overwhelmed almost immediately. Out of anger, and while Sherm was eyeing the pokemon in the dojo, he shot out a thunderbolt at Sherm. Without the honchkrow even looking, and with excellent speed, he whisked his body to the side and grabbed Cortez around the throat.

"There's no use, Cortez. You can't stop what's happening. This has been planned for 30 years. It was inevitable. You of all pokemon should realize that." Cortez gasped for air as he looked into Sherm's crazy bloodshot eyes.

"Why… do you… need me…?" He managed to speak.

"I know, I know. I'd much rather kill you, but all will be revealed soon enough", Sherm responded. Cortez heard Anna crying out. His pupils looked as far left as they could and he saw sableye apprehending both her and Sharp.

Cortez coughed and wheezed for air before Sherm threw him down hard on the floor of the ring. He laid there, weak, helpless, gasping for air.

Then he felt the tight clawed grasp of a sableye around his arms. Sherm looked up at the sableye who had him.

"Take the helioptile and houndour and lock them in Room One of Moats Hall." Cortez began to be dragged away.

"No! No! Let me go!" Luke could be heard crying out. They needed two sableye for him. As Cortez was hauled off, he gazed around the dojo. Many pokemon were either dead or fainted, and the ones that weren't, were being filed around by sableye.

Just then, a dusclops emerged in front of Sherm. "Scarland City has been successfully secured", it uttered.

"Excellent. Ensure all remaining pokemon are properly dealt with."

"Yes sir."

Cortez was drug out of the dojo and down the halls. Sableye were everywhere. They lined the halls, guarded doors, some were also hauling bodies. Many stood motionless. Their diamond eyes gleamed, their posture exuded their demonic and minion-like nature.

Room 1 of Moats Hall was just around a few more corners. When he got there, sableye were already cleaning it out of any unwanted items. Cortez was forcefully tossed in.

Moments later, he could hear Luke's barking. His anger was being proudly shown in his swearing.

"Fuck you all! Let me go, god damn it! OUCH!" Cortez heard a slash. He finally came around the corner, and was kicked into the room. The houndour moaned in pain.

"Luke!" Cortez yelped, coming to his rescue. The last sableye left, and the door was shut firmly. Luke struggled to get up. When he did, he attacked the door, but it didn't budge.

"Locked in. God damn it!" He turned and face Cortez. "What the hell just happened?!"

"Mr. Sherm just happened. He took over the city with an army of sableye", he explained.

"Why?!" Luke barked.

"How could I know?!" Cortez returned just as quickly.

"I knew Mr. Sherm was evil as fuck! The dude just always looked pissed! He was fantasizing the day he'd come into power!"

Cortez explained to Luke how he 'needed' them specifically. He told him how Sherm had been planning this for 30 years, for the entire time he had been teaching. Cortez or Luke had no idea about the background of this attack. The only ideas they formed were that Sherm wanted to dominate the world, and he was going to do it city and town at a time, with his sableye army.

"Why would Mr. Sherm need us? What makes us so special?" Luke asked. Cortez could've asked the same thing. It was completely unknown to both of them. After a while, it dawned on them that they were probably trapped in there for the long run. Hours passed and no one came for them.

Cortez and Luke had themselves to talk to, but that was it. They had plenty of time to look about the room. It still had two beds, a dresser, some desks and chairs, but the sableye successfully cleaned out everything else.

Cortez laid on the bed. "How long do you think we'll be here?"

"Days. Weeks", Luke responded.

At the roof of the guild building, Sherm perched on the highest point. His feathers ruffled calmly with the breeze. The sun was starting to set over the horizon as he watched over the entire city. On the ground, clusters of the purple sableye could be seen patrolling around, the indication that the city had successfully been taken over. The gates were shut at the stone walls; no one would come in or out. He had done it, and it went over smoothly. Scarland City was his now. The honchkrow closed his eyes in thought. He was tired from everything he had done that day. The 30 years he had spent being a teacher in the guild was finally going to pay off.

Phase 2 was complete. Onto phase 3.


End file.
